• 66 hospitals per million people
• strong Government support for the sector
• access to large numbers of patients in urban areas
• high quality infrastructure and engaged investigators

South Korea has a population of 51 million, offers world-class infrastructure and is fast becoming a hub for clinical trials in Asia. South Korea is already a top 10 location globally for clinical trials.

The South Korean government has recently announced a new five-year plan that is expected to deliver valuable improvements that will attract even more clinical trials from international biotechnology companies. The Comprehensive Five-year Plan for the Advancement of Clinical Trials is aimed at further establishing the country as a leading research and clinical trial destination in the region and globally.

With 66 hospitals per million people, South Korea ranks second among OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) members. Rapid start-up and recruitment are enabled by optimized recruitment practices and access to large numbers of patients.

Biotechnology look for high-quality infrastructure and low trial concentration to conduct their clinical studies, especially in oncology, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, Vaccines, orphan and rare diseases.
Recently, the growth of biotechnology companies’ clinical activity in South Korea was estimated at around +10% each year for oncology trials.
Digestive diseases and cancers, such as gastric cancers, oesophageal cancer and other liver diseases are also highly prevalent in South Korea.
 
Novotech has established strong clinical teams in South Korea with deep local knowledge to deliver quality CRO and SMO services to biotechnology companies.
 
Novotech clinical staff numbers have recently increased by over 30% in 2019 to accommodate biotech demand for trials in South Korea.
 
In addition, Novotech has partnered with key specialist hospital and research facilities as part of its Partner Program, giving Novotech clients direct access to the most active and reputable key opinion leaders, principal investigators and sites to facilitate study start-up and patient recruitment in South Korea.
 
These include the 900 bed Ulsan University Hospital (UUH) and the Hepatology Division in Gastroenterology, part of the 1,778 bed Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH).