Pangyo, Gyeonggi, 24 Apr, 2017 | Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) announces today that its Board of Directors has unanimously appointed Dr. Wang-Shick Ryu as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective 1 May, 2017.
 
“Under Dr. Ryu‘s leadership and strategic vision, IPK will take a step forward in many drug discovery research areas,” said Chairman Uhtaek Oh, IPK Board of Directors. He added, “Especially now that IPK has a virus expert in its new CEO, we expect there will be a lot of progress made in research of infectious viruses”.

                             
The new CEO, Dr. Ryu, has worked in close partnership with IPK on hepatitis B virus research and other virus infectious diseases continuously for more than a decade. Dr. Ryu emphasized, “New emerging viruses like avian influenza (AI), MERS virus, Zika virus, and etc., have been enormously damaging nationally and internationally. Therefore, it is an important time to prepare surveillance programs and accelerate infectious diseases research to prevent viruses from spreading.” Adding, “As a global basic research institute, we will accelerate infectious diseases and drug discovery research through collaborations with national and international organizations.”
 
IPK was established in April 2004 in collaboration with Institut Pasteur Paris and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), with support from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP). In its short history, IPK has had a number of excellent research outcomes in identifying promising compounds like the first-in-class TB drug candidate Q203, the hepatitis C drug candidate Thiophene and a new candidate that boosts the activity of a TB treatment. Currently, IPK is conducting research on diseases with global impact like, liver cancer, hepatitis, influenza, antibiotics, and etc., research is supported through grants from MSIP and the Gyeonggi Provincial government.

# # # # # #

About Institut Pasteur Korea
Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) is an international research institute focused on addressing global health issues with a combination of cutting edge approaches in order to understand disease mechanisms and develop new treatments. By promoting multi-disciplinary projects, IPK is at the forefront of drug discovery and an economic growth engine that contributes to Korea's scientific intellectual and technical resources. IPK has four core missions of public interest; 1) Research, combining front line biology, IT, and chemistry, with innovative cell-based drug discovery platforms that identify novel molecular targets for potential new therapies to treat diseases, 2) Education, offering a wide range of programming to nurture the development of the next generation of scientists and health professionals, 3) Public Health, working in collaboration with national and international health authorities, and 4) Translation of biomedical discoveries to improve health via technology transfer and industrial partnerships.
 
IPK is a member of the Institut Pasteur International Network (Network). As a hub institution, IPK plays a key role in the Network, serving as a bridge between Korea and global bio-pharma science, expanding Korea's R&D base collaborative research projects with global alliances
 
The institute was established in April 2004 in collaboration with Institut Pasteur Paris and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), with support from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP). IPK also has a great supporter in the Gyeonggi Provincial government (2005 – 2015 : Block funding | 2016 – Present : drug discovery co-resarch fund for pharm industries).