Core Protein Resources Center
10 years or more, many domestic pharmaceutical companies in Korea have devoted significant efforts to the development of blockbuster-type biopharmaceuticals. Recently, major domestic corporations, mid-sized pharmaceutical companies, and ventures have achieved remarkable results, such as launching new drugs for massive technology exports and overseas expansion. The medical protein and enzyme biopharmaceutical sectors have large domestic and international market sizes and high technological complexity, making market entry for domestic ventures and small businesses extremely challenging. To overcome these barriers and establish a system for concentrated support of essential scientific technologies and rapid enhancement of domestic and international competitiveness, the "DGIST Core Protein Resources Center" has been established. Below are the three visions of this center:
- The establishment of the "Medical Protein Core Technology Support Center," which maximizes the functions of an advanced public research institute by concentrating and refining useful protein resources, facilities, essential technical elements, and specialized personnel: Providing support for the creation of new protein biopharmaceutical industries in Korea, facilitating overseas expansion, and supporting the exploration of high-value-added new markets.
- Through the division of labor, companies can focus on their unique tasks, while the Medical Protein Core Technology Support Center provides all the necessary technical infrastructure, thus establishing an innovative support system that efficiently assists multiple companies simultaneously.
- Implementing "Resources Service Center, Only One Step Away from Business" aims to minimize the burden of research and development for domestic companies, ultimately enabling innovative forms of support for businesses. This technology support center facilitates close collaboration with companies, ensuring seamless access to resources and expertise for innovative advancements.
The goal of this center is to consolidate four essential core resources (skilled workforce, research and development facilities, protein information resources, protein analysis and related technologies) necessary for the development and production of useful proteins and enzymes directly or indirectly utilized in the medical and medical-related industries. By concentrating these resources, the center aims to efficiently support leading domestic bio-companies with the best available commercialization technologies.
Through proactive acquisition of commercializable protein and enzyme resources and related technologies, the center aims to establish a technology support center that minimizes the financial and time burdens of research and development for companies. This will be achieved through a division of labor between companies and the center, aligning with the slogan "Resources Service Center, Only One Step Away from Business," enabling innovative forms of support for businesses in their research and development endeavors.
The establishment of a cutting-edge public research institute focused on the development of high-value medical proteins requires concentration of four core resources: useful protein resources, research and development production facilities, key technological elements, and specialized workforce. This aims to provide a public foundation to support the overseas expansion and new startups in the domestic protein biopharmaceutical industry. To achieve this, the following seven specific bases will be established:
- Protein Common Technology Base:
- Basic equipment for cell disruption, extract preparation, storage, etc.
- Cell culture facilities
- Various purification equipment and related technology for protein separation
- Recombinant Protein Expression Base:
- Bacterial and yeast expression systems
- Insect and animal cell expression systems
- Vector development for expression
- Performance improvement through genetic manipulation and securing Direct Evolution technology
- Protein Analysis and Advanced Technology Base:
- Protein mass analysis and quantification technology
- Protein performance enhancement technology
- Operation of analysis equipment and protein activity measurement technology
- Useful Protein Resource Base:
- Cytokines (including growth factors, chemokines)
- Drug targets and therapeutic proteins
- Reagents for diagnostics and other industrial proteins
- Prediction of protein structure and stability based on supercomputing
- Protein Structural Information Data Bank Base:
- Dissemination and distribution of useful protein information
- Protein big data analysis
- In silico pre-screening of mutagenesis
- Enterprise Support Service Base.
Choi, Seong Kyoon
+82-53-785-2562
cskbest@dgist.ac.kr