Korea University Guro Hospital,

Holds Opening Ceremony for ‘Bone Defect/Disease Convergence Treatment Center’

Spurring the Development of Patient-Customized Artificial Bones That Are More Realistic Than Reality

Investing 7 Billion KRW Over 5 Years, Focusing on the Global Market Through Medical Device Development and Commercialization

The opening ceremony was attended by Kim Rin, Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs at Korea University; Kim Woong-cheol, Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Korea University; Park Jung-yul, Head of Medical Planning at Korea University; Kim Woo-kyung, President of Korea University Guro Hospital; Sohn Won-yong, Chairman of the Korean Orthopaedic Association; Kim Woo-joo, Head of the Pan-Governmental Project Group for Novel Influenza; and industry representatives from participating companies such as Cowellmedi and Samjin Pharmaceutical, who gathered to celebrate the center's opening.

The Korea University Guro Hospital Bone Defect/Disease Convergence Treatment Center plans to invest a total project cost of 7 billion KRW by 2025, including 5 billion KRW in government funding and 1 billion KRW each from research participation fees paid by Cowellmedi and Samjin Pharmaceutical, to develop and commercialize patient-customized artificial scaffolds that promote bone formation and functional cell fusion, such as growth factor-coated implants, artificial supports for osteomyelitis treatment loaded with antibiotics, artificial supports for bone regeneration loaded with growth factors, and artificial supports for bone regeneration loaded with antibiotics and growth factors.

Kim Rin, Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs at Korea University Medical Center, said in his congratulatory speech, "The overseas medical industry market size in the field of bone defects and diseases is expected to reach a whopping 52 trillion KRW in 2015, emerging as a blue ocean," and added, "Based on domestic and international experience, we ask Dr. Song Hae-ryong (Orthopedics), the director of the center and a leading expert in the field of bone defects and diseases, and experts in each field to work together to focus on conquering the global market through medical device development and commercialization."

Kim Woo-kyung, President of Korea University Guro Hospital, said in his encouragement, "I am pleased that this center's opening will allow us to accelerate research. I hope that we will achieve remarkable results in the treatment of the four major orthopedic diseases: limb and spinal fractures, osteomyelitis, artificial joints, and bone tumors."

Director Song Hae-ryong said, "Our greatest strengths are our world-class clinical and research capabilities, the establishment of the largest clinical database for intractable bone diseases, and the ability to rapidly develop and commercialize in conjunction with the Medical Device Clinical Trial Center," and added, "We will reduce our reliance on foreign medical devices and build international competitiveness to confidently challenge the global market."

Meanwhile, the Korea University Guro Hospital Bone Defect/Disease Convergence Treatment Center was designated as a hospital-specialized research center by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in May of last year. The hospital-specialized research center is a large-scale national support research project implemented by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to recreate the brand value of hospitals by focusing on fostering the most competitive specialized fields of each hospital.