2019 RIGHT Fund Investment Forum is held on 17th with 2nd RFP announced
Seoul, Republic of Korea, July 17th 2019 – The RIGHT Fund (Research Investment for Global Health Technology Fund, hereafter the RIGHT Fund, ) hosts the ‘2019 RIGHT Fund Investment Forum’ on July 17th in Seoul Korea. At the forum, The RIGHT Fund will announce the list of projects selected after the 1st Request for Proposal (RFP) was released in Oct. last year as well as 2nd RFP plans.
The RIGHT Fund selected 4 projects for this year – two for vaccines, one for diagnostics, one for therapeutics – for an investment of around 6.8 billion won: optimization of production of hexavalent vaccine of existing DTwP-HepB-Hib vaccine plus IPV (Inactivated poliovirus vaccine, polio) by LG Chem; development of low cost, continuous-flow manufacturing process for ozonide-based antimalarials by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and SK Biotek; development of second generation test for identifying G6PD (Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) by SD Biosensor and PATH; and development of a cholera conjugate vaccine by EuBiologics, the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and MGH-Harvard.
“After the first RFP was released last October, and following and extensive two-tiered review process, four projects were selected for an award,” said Younbeen Kim, CEO and Executive Director of The RIGHT Fund. “I hope our investment can greatly accelerate these projects so that they can make a meaningful contribution powered by Korea’s technical strength in the public health sector to enhance the public health equity in low-resourced countries.”
During the forum/, the RIGHT Fund also announces the 2nd RFP, which focuses on R&D initiatives for therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics that can help prevent or alleviate infection with, progression of, and proliferation of endemic or new infectious disease in developing countries. The RIGHT Fund plans to select up to 10 projects in this 2nd RFP and awardees to be announced in the first half of 2020. Applicants should submit their Intent to Apply by 10:00 am Sat. Aug. 17th(Korea Time), and more information can be found at the RIGHT Fund’s website (https://rightfoundation.kr).
Founded in July 2018, The RIGHT Fund is a non-profit foundation established through the public-private partnership between the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea, 5 Korean biopharmaceutical companies (SK bioscience, LG Chem, GC Pharma, Chong Kun Dang Pharm, Genexine) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the mission of promoting global health. The RIGHT Fund selects R&D projects leveraging Korean innovation and technology for the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics that can address public health concerns and needs in developing countries with a total of 50 billion Korean won of investment planned by 2022.