Head of the Clinical Trials Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Seoul National University College of Medicine.Around 15 years ago, Korea probably was not the first choice for many global pharmaceutical companies and Contract Research Organizations (CROs) when it came to choosing a site for clinical trials. In the early 2000s, the annual number of clinical trialsapproved by the Korea Food and Drug Administration, the Korean regulatory agency in charge of drug marketing approval, was less than fifty. However, the number started to grow rapidly as the Korean government began funding for programs promoting clinical trials. With the creation of the Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials (KoNECT), a government-funded organization that promotes clinical trials in Korea, the number increased to 670 by 2012. Now, Korea has become the hub of clinical trials notonly in Asia, but also in the world.
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