Gyeongsangbuk-do is investing approximately 175 billion KRW to establish a special-management pharmaceutical industry hub in Andong, encompassing everything from hemp cultivation to the manufacturing of raw and finished pharmaceuticals, as well as quality and safety management.

On the 12th, the province signed a business agreement at the Stanford Hotel Andong with Andong City, NeoKenBio Co., Ltd., and the Regional Revitalization Investment Development Institute. The signing ceremony was attended by about 20 people, including Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheol-woo, Andong Mayor Kwon Ki-chang, NeoKenBio CEO Ham Jung-yeop, and Regional Revitalization Investment Development Institute President Lee Jeong-hwan.

The project will run from 2027 to 2030. The four organizations will build a full-cycle production system connecting hemp cultivation and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The initiative aims to lay a new industrial foundation by adding hemp-based pharmaceuticals to Andong's bio-industry, which has grown centered around the vaccine industry.

The production facilities will be located in the Gyeongbuk Bio 2nd General Industrial District in Pungsan-eup, Andong-si. The raw material pharmaceutical facility will be built in accordance with the European Union Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) standards, and the finished pharmaceutical facility will house a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) line. Throughout the entire process—from cultivation to transportation, storage, and manufacturing—the integrated control and traceability experience accumulated from the Industrial Hemp Regulation-Free Zone will be applied, along with a phased quality and safety management system.

Andong has built a foundation for vaccine production and research and development centered around SK bioscience. In June 2024, it was designated as a National Advanced Strategic Industry Special Zone in the bio sector, alongside Pohang.

Following the designation of the regulation-free zone in 2020, the province invested approximately 46.8 billion KRW from 2021 to 2024 to promote hemp cultivation, raw material pharmaceutical manufacturing, and safety management verification. Through an additional designation in June of this year, the verification scope was expanded to minor cannabinoids such as CBG, CBC, and CBN. NeoKenBio, the company in charge of the project, is a core participating enterprise in the regulation-free zone and a technology-spinout company of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). In April of this year, it was selected as the leading organization for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' 5.7 billion KRW project for the localization of medical CBD raw material pharmaceuticals.

This project is part of the 1.5 trillion KRW "Future Industry 4 Major Foundries" project. Operating in a format where local governments and regional companies jointly create production infrastructure, this is the third agreement following Pohang robotics (Neuromeka) and Gumi quantum systems (IonQ and SDT) in September.

The project cost will be funded by combining corporate self-funding and policy financing with local government investment and support. The agreement organizations plan to complete preparations, such as establishing special purpose companies (SPCs) for each facility and signing land contracts within the year, and begin facility construction starting in 2027.

Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Lee Cheol-woo stated, "We will add a new growth axis called hemp-based pharmaceuticals to Andong, which has established one axis of South Korea's bio-industry through vaccines. By equipping production facilities ranging from raw material production to pharmaceutical manufacturing, along with strict quality and safety management systems, we will foster Andong as a leading hub for South Korea's special-management pharmaceutical industry."

Andong Mayor Kwon Ki-chang said, "We will ensure that Andong's bio-industry foundation and the experience of the hemp special zone lead to tangible outcomes in pharmaceutical production. We will spare no administrative support necessary for building production facilities and stable project execution."

NeoKenBio CEO Ham Jung-yeop stated, "We will develop our proprietary technology into pharmaceutical production processes that meet international standards, and materialize product development, licensing preparations, and cooperation with pharmaceutical companies. We will connect this to actual production and orders to create an industrial ecosystem that grows together with Andong."

[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]