Woojin B&G Joins 26.4 Billion Won North Jeolla Regulatory Free Zone... Launches Farm-Customized Animal Vaccine Business in Earnest

Woojin B&G (018620) is participating as a key company in the 'Next-Generation Animal Medicine Regulatory Free Zone' project in North Jeolla Province, which has a total project budget of 26.4 billion won. The company plans to drive the development of farm-customized autogenous vaccines and expand its next-generation animal vaccine business.

On August 11, North Jeolla Provincial Government announced that it recently signed an investment agreement with 11 animal medicine manufacturing companies, including Woojin B&G, following its designation as the 11th Regulatory Free Zone under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. This measure aims to attract investments from participating companies and establish a foundation for local business operations.

The special zone project will be implemented over four years, from 2027 to 2030, across a total area of 3.03 square kilometers in Iksan and Jeongeup. The total project cost is 26.4 billion won, comprising 15.2 billion won in national funding, 6.9 billion won in local government funding, and 4.3 billion won in private investment.

The special zone will conduct demonstrative projects to accelerate market entry for next-generation animal medicines, which have previously faced difficulties in development and commercialization due to regulatory barriers. The main tasks include establishing review regulations for advanced animal biopharmaceuticals, expanding the range of autogenous vaccine products, and exempting certain toxicity test submissions for animal medicines.

Among these initiatives, Woojin B&G will take the lead in demonstrating the expansion of autogenous vaccine product categories. To respond to rapidly mutating swine diseases, the company intends to analyze pathogens prevalent on farms, select suitable vaccine candidate antigens, develop vaccine processes, evaluate quality, and conduct clinical and on-site demonstrations—managing the entire process from start to finish.

The primary target diseases are swine influenza and porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). These illnesses are challenging because the characteristics of the circulating viruses in the field change rapidly, making it difficult for existing commercial vaccines to provide sufficient protection if the vaccine antigens do not match the circulating strains.

Woojin B&G aims to address this challenge with farm-customized autogenous vaccines. The company plans to quickly isolate and analyze the prevalent strains on each farm, select appropriate antigens, and establish a platform that applies these to vaccine development.

The company intends to leverage the expertise and technological capabilities it has accumulated at its Iksan research center to establish standards for the safety, efficacy, and quality control of autogenous vaccines, with the goal of developing these into a standard model for the domestic autogenous vaccine industry.

A Woojin B&G representative stated, "Our participation in this regulatory free zone marks a crucial turning point, going beyond mere regional investment to accelerate both the institutionalization and industrialization of autogenous vaccines in Korea." The representative added, "We will establish a vaccine platform, centered at our Iksan research center, that can respond rapidly to major animal infectious diseases such as swine influenza and PED."

The representative went on to say, "By working with North Jeolla Province, Iksan City, and industry-academia research institutes, we will establish safety, efficacy, and quality control standards for autogenous vaccines and develop these into a standard model for the domestic industry. We will also accelerate both the commercialization and expansion of the domestic market, as well as our entry into overseas animal vaccine markets."

This special zone project is aimed at fostering the North Jeolla region as a global hub where research, demonstration, manufacturing, and commercialization of animal medicines are interconnected. Woojin B&G plans to advance autogenous vaccine technologies to respond to farm-specific prevalent strains and expand its business areas in both domestic and international next-generation animal vaccine markets, with Iksan as its base.

Woojin B&G will take the lead in demonstrating farm-customized autogenous vaccines in the North Jeolla Next-Generation Animal Medicine Regulatory Free Zone project, which has a total budget of 26.4 billion won. The company is actively pushing for the industrialization of autogenous vaccines in Korea and expansion into the global animal vaccine market at the same time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.