The Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) discovered on Wednesday, October 5th, the article by Mr. Jung Min-ho published in the Korea Times, entitled “Pasteur Institute breaches MERS biosecurity rule”.
 
IPK would like to issue a formal denial of the allegations against its interim CEO, Dr. Roberto Bruzzone, that IPK has tried to cover up the incident.
 
IPK also denies that previously an official delegation from Ministry of Health and Welfare was sent to IPK to deal with this matter (date not specified) without any action being taken, as alleged in the same article.
 
On the contrary, at the request of its interim CEO, IPK has sought the intervention of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) to independently review our handling of MERS-CoV samples.  KCDC has made a first on-site visit and has started the review of the matter.
 
IPK has set the standards for work highly pathogenic micro-organisms with the first BSL3 licensed in Korea.  We would like to put on record that KCDC has been inspecting IPK on a regular basis and is aware of our guidelines and reporting system.
 
IPK is committed to scrupulously adhere to the good laboratory practice.  We have operated and will continue to operate in total transparency and full compliance with Korean biosafety laws.
 
IPK applauds the action taken by KCDC and will not make further comments until the review is completed.