The project will invest 505.2 billion won to create a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine development platform in preparation for a pandemic. The mRNA vaccine induces an immune response by injecting messenger ribonucleic acid, the genetic material that produces the pathogen's proteins, into the human body.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 25th that it confirmed the review results of the appropriateness of the business plan for the 'Pandemic Preparedness mRNA Vaccine Development Support Project' during the second National Research and Development Project Evaluation Committee held in 2025.
This project aims to develop an mRNA vaccine platform to ensure the stable supply of vaccines in preparation for a pandemic. The government will support the mRNA vaccine from the preclinical phase to product approval, investing 505.2 billion won from 2025 to 2028.
As the appropriateness review results were confirmed, support for the first phase of the project, which includes four preclinical mRNA vaccine tasks, will begin. The goal is to obtain product approval by 2028, after completing clinical phases 1 to 3.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency aims to secure a rapid development platform for mRNA vaccines through this project, enabling the rapid development of vaccines within 200 days in the event of a future pandemic. The plan is to quickly develop vaccines to establish health security and expand into various infectious diseases, cancer vaccines, and treatments for rare diseases.
At this meeting, the review results for the appropriateness of the business plan to support science and engineering graduate research stipends were also confirmed.
Ryu Kwang-jun, head of the Science and Technology Innovation Office, noted, 'By selecting projects of national urgency last year for exemption from preliminary feasibility studies and finalizing the review results of the business plan today, we were able to accelerate the project start by at least a year,' and 'We will work to secure flexibility and speed in R&D within the existing preliminary feasibility study framework and ultimately complete the system reform for promoting leading R&D, including the abolition of preliminary feasibility studies, without any setbacks.'