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Seven projects in Korea aim to drive transformative change in healthcare

Seven new healthcare projects have been announced under the Korean ARPA-H Initiative, with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute sharing details and issuing a call for research and development proposals to help implement them.

The initiative is designed to “tackle national challenges through ambitious endeavours” by driving transformative changes to healthcare, and will reportedly allocate KRW 1.1628 trillion from 2024 to 2032 for research and development efforts focusing on establishing health security; overcoming “unconquered” diseases; securing technologies in biohealth; improving welfare and care; and advancing “essential” medical services.

September saw project managers appointed for the missions focusing on securing technologies in biohealth as well as overcoming disease and advancing essential medical services. The seven new projects in these areas have been planned through demand surveys, big data analysis and expert consultations, and include developing ten early screening technologies for cancers affecting people in their 20s and 30s; developing innovative medical technologies, and creating an AI-enabled regionally comprehensive emergency patient classification and transport system.

Other news from earlier in the year saw Lunit, a deep learning-based medical AI company based in South Korea, announce the signing of a Scheme Implementation Agreement to acquire Volpara Health Technologies, a company focused on AI-enabled software for early detection of cancer, in a move which would bring together AI expertise, data and capabilities.

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