Articles

The Planning and Implementation of Multi-Ministerial R&D Programs: A Focus on Trans-Governmental Whole-Cycle New Medicine Development Projects in Korea

Jieun Seong

Abstract

Pan-ministerial policy planning, coordination, and evaluation for innovation have emerged as important challenges as a new policy paradigm of integrated innovation policy is now being emphasized as a solution for various social issues. In particular, countries like the U.S., Japan, or Germany, whose R&D systems are quite distributed, are now stepping up their efforts to enhance the linkage and integration between policies by strengthening the planning and coordination functions of the government organizations in charge of innovation policy as well as by implementing various programs for this purpose. These countries are now trying to build a joint research platform and strengthen inter-ministerial cooperation and linkage in the process of implementing innovation. This will help to the achievement of a government’s overall goals rather than the achievement of narrower sector-oriented goals. Under these circumstantial changes in policy environment, it is worth noting that the pan-ministerial whole-cycle program to develop new medicine is a good attempt at introducing integrated innovation policy. This program has been developed to overcome the silo mechanism in R&D, which had long been considered a stumbling block in new drug development programs. Among the many programs, this program can be said to reflect the perspective of integrated innovation policy to its fullest extent in terms of inter-ministerial R&D program planning, organization, budget, and implementation body. This study will review this pan-ministerial whole-cycle new drug development program in Korea from an integrated innovation policy point of view. For this purpose, this study will review what integrated innovation policy is as a theoretical background, how it has emerged, and what specific policy measures exist for implementing an integrated innovation policy. For the purpose of serving the pan-ministerial whole-cycle program, this study will review the background and the contents of the program and will present policy suggestions required for achieving intended policy goals.

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