Institut Pasteur Korea Holds an Inauguration Ceremony at Pangyo
- IPK is expected to jump on the world-class R&D base for drug discovery

May 7, 2009, Seoul, Korea ? Institut Pasteur Korea, a growing global translational research institute has had its relocation as an independent institute equipped with cutting edge bio research facilities within Pangyo Techno-Valley. The inauguration ceremony is held on May 8th.

The opening ceremony is held with 200 participants including VIPs such as Minister of MEST, Governor of Gyeonggi Province and Chairman of Institut Pasteur. During the ceremony a lab tour to observe cutting edge bio research facilities including BS-L 3 was organized.

To commemorate IP-K’s relocation, an international symposium is co-held under the theme of “Accelerating Drug Discovery” in the event to share the latest trends of drug discovery and vision on research development.

The newly-constructed independent institute within Pangyo Techno Valley, is equipped with state-of-the-art bio research facility and will serve as a stepping stone for medium and long-term development of IP-K. With support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology as well as Gyeonggi Province, the construction of this facility was completed as an independent research facility equipped with cutting-edge research facility of Drug Discovery as well as life science field in end-March this year.

Equipped with BL-3 facilities and animal lab, in particular IP-K has secured Phenomic Screening technique, a crystal of convergence technology of BT-IT-NT within BL3 to come by searching for the effect of a medicine and toxicity on living cells at the same time.
Such core application technology of IP-K appears to be able to reduce considerable time as well as cost in a stage of Drug Discovery for the commercialization in the months to come

Dr. Ulf Nehrbass, IP-K CEO said, “While the necessity of competitive Drug Discovery capacity is being stressed more and more as the global bio and pharmaceutical industry environment is changing rapidly, IP-K’s technology innovations will open a new chapter for accelerating Drug Discovery as well as Korea’s bio research field.” “IPK will do the best to become an innovation role model which will grow as a world top-notch bio R&D (research & development) base by concentrating its efforts even more on improving technology innovation as well as unrivaled R&D capacity.” he added.

Founded in 2004 through cooperation between the Korean government and France’s Institut Pasteur, the world’s top life science research institute, IP-K is supported on financial aids by MEST and on advanced research skills, basic research outcomes and research human resources by Institut Pasteur.

In a short 5-year from the foundation, IP-K has discovered the hits for HIV(AIDS), TB as well as entered into the co-research activities with INSERM. IP-K is receiving positive evaluation as a success case for the Government’s initiatives for attracting global R&D institute to Korea.


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See the detailed Korean Version of Press Release attached