The Gates Foundation held its first in-person meeting with representatives of major domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies to discuss international health cooperation.
The Gates Foundation noted that Trevor Mundel, president of the international health institutional sector, met with members of the International Health Technology Research Fund (the Light Foundation) on the 20th at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, to discuss the development status of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic devices in the domestic bio industry.
Seven major domestic pharmaceutical and bio corporations attended the meeting, including the Gates Foundation, the advisory council of the Light Foundation, SK bioscience, LG CHEM, Bioneer, EuBiologics, SD BIOSENSOR, and QuadMedicine.
The Light Foundation is a public-private partnership nonprofit foundation established in 2018 with the participation of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (50%), the Gates Foundation (25%), and domestic pharmaceutical and bio corporations to enhance health equity in infectious disease sectors in low- to middle-income countries. It has supported 1.189 billion won for 73 research and development projects related to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic devices with 110 partner organizations to date.
This is the first occasion since the establishment of the Light Foundation in 2018 that the chairman of the Gates Foundation has held an in-person meeting with the chairman of the Light Foundation.
Kim Han-yi, representative of the Light Foundation, said, "The foundation has supported the R&D capabilities of Korean corporations to contribute to international health," and added, "This meeting was an opportunity to discuss actionable plans to achieve results together with the Gates Foundation, the largest funder in international health, and major domestic pharmaceutical and bio corporations."
Chairman Mundel emphasized the importance of partnerships with Korea, mentioning changes in international health and the future operational policies of the Gates Foundation.
Meanwhile, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and chairman of the Gates Foundation, is scheduled to visit the National Assembly on the 21st to hold a meeting with the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee to exchange practical opinions on major achievements of global health partnerships and future cooperation directions.