The Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF), celebrated fourth year since launch, has emphasized its role as a 'supporter' rather than a 'management' in advancing successful new drug development.

As it enters its fifth year and reaches a midpoint of the project duration, KDDF has emphasized the need for continuity and a centralized control tower.

On April 17, KDDF Ceo Park Yeong-min held a press briefing to share the KDDF's achievements and future strategies on its fourth anniversary.

KDDF program supports the entire drug development lifecycle, including candidate discovery, preclinical studies through Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, and commercialization. It is a multi‑ministerial R&D initiative with KRW 2.1758 trillion (KRW 1.4747 trillion in government funding and KRW 701.1 billion in private investment) allocated over ten years through 2030.

Since its 2021 launch, KDDF has supported 423 pipeline projects and plans to add 128 new projects this year, bringing its total to approximately 550.

Ultimately, KDDF aims to strengthen the R&D ecosystem by improving the success rate of early‑stage technologies progressing to later development stages and building biotech venture capabilities.

Furthermore, KDDF assists with global partnering and investment attraction to generate practical outcomes such as blockbuster new‑drug approvals and global technology transfers.

As it reaches the midpoint of its ten‑year plan, KDDF will focus on enhancing its commercialization support this year alongside ongoing target and modality projects.

To achieve these goals, KDDF has increased clinical project funding by 30%, raising support to KRW 4.55 billion for Phase 1 trials and around KRW 9.1 billion for Phase 2 trials. Previously, KDDF capped support at KRW 2 billion for non-clinical stages, KRW 3.5 billion for Phase 1, and KRW 7 billion for Phase 2.

Park stated, "We aim to discover globally competitive molecules and will focus on new targets and modalities," and added, "By optimizing our commercialization support, KDDF can pioneer a new R&D model."

"We will expand programs to resolve drug‑development bottlenecks and strengthen global competitiveness. KDDF will not merely provide support, but we will establish an efficient R&D structure."

During the meeting, KDDF stressed that as a sunsetting program, it requires guaranteed continuity given the long timelines inherent in new‑drug development.

Park said, "KDDF is a sunsetting program that must undergo a feasibility reassessment after ten years, which can create inefficiencies in later stages," and added, "Since the government has designated the bio‑pharma industry as a future growth engine, the organization supporting frontline drug development must operate without interruption."

KDDF succeeded the previous multi‑ministerial new drug development program, which ran from 2011 until its closure in September 2020, and KDDF then launched in 2021.

However, there was a roughly six‑month gap between the predecessor program's end and KDDF's launch, during which small biotech firms reportedly faced support disruptions that delayed their R&D for over six months.

Given KDDF's fixed ten‑year timeframe, experts have called for follow‑up measures to ensure domestic drug developers do not abandon projects due to support gaps.

Park said, "We need to double the budget for drug development to support more companies. New policy measures, such as supporting potential K‑Big Pharma, are needed so that KDDF could serve as the control tower for Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech industry."