Yonsei News

(by Sangjin Kim (Chemistry, entering class of '13)) 

University Affiliated Research Institute That Pioneers Development of Pharmacology and Health Care

Yonsei University, which started its first modern medical education in Korea more than 130 years ago, trained not only doctors but also pharmacists at the time. Unfortunately, since 1900, however, the operation of pharmacology courses has been suspended for more than 100 years. After a long wait, with the establishment of the College of Pharmacy on the Yonsei International Campus in Songdo, Incheon, Yonsei University is once again providing the momentum for the progress of pharmacy and health care at home and abroad by educating talented individuals with capacities to lead the industry.

The College of Pharmacy of Yonsei University is leading the prime pharmaceutical education and research in South Korea, taking the pole position at the forefront of industry-academic-research cooperation through its strategic location in Songdo International Business District, where more than 50 pharmaceutical corporations, including Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, DM Bio, Ajinomoto Genexine, Berna Biotech, Janssen Vaccine, Bi-nex, Merck, etc., renowned research institutes, and universities gathered to form a bio-industry cluster. Songdo shows enormous growth potential, with the city having the world's best biopharmaceutical production capacity. It aims to attract more than 300 companies while creating more than 15,000 jobs, mainly in the bio-health industry, by 2030.

In April 2011, Yonsei University established the "Yonsei Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (YIPS)," a research institute affiliated with the Yonsei College of Pharmacy, with the mission to contribute to the effort toward drug discovery and national health care. The establishment came with relevant organizations and infrastructure such as the Drug Discovery Research Center, the Clinical Social Pharmacy Research Center, the Administrative Support Department, the Devise Analysis Office, and the Advisory Evaluation Committee.

The YIPS, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2021, has achieved remarkable results by focusing on basic, intermediary, and convergence research related to disease and new drug development, thanks to the devoted research participation of professors from the College of Pharmacy in various specialized fields. The YIPS has established itself as a hub for pharmaceutical research.

At the YIPS, seven professors from the College of Pharmacy, including Professor Sung-Joo Hwang as the head and Professor Namkung Wan as the deputy head, are serving as steering committee members, and a total of 93 researchers are devoted to innovative pharmaceutical research based on life dignity. With active participation from researchers from all five majors within the College of Pharmacy, including biopharmacology, pharmacology, industrial pharmacy and drug science, pharmaceutical science, and clinical pharmacy, the YIPS is recognized as the most prestigious research institute in the field of pharmacology, as the institution consistently carries out industry-academic cooperative convergence research, which connects to the discovery of excellent drugs for disease prevention and treatment.

Furthermore, the YIPS is pursuing specialization and internationalization through close linkage of the "Drug Discovery Research Center" and the "Clinical Social Pharmacy Research Center," which are sub-organizations of the institution. The YIPS currently pursues disease-oriented brokerage research through basic-clinical brokerage research and multi-disciplinary convergence research to play a leading role in future medicine and pharmacy.

Research and Academic Events for Mid- to Long-Term Development

The Yonsei Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences is preparing sustainable development measures by establishing mid and long-term visions along with short-term development plans for the growth of the institute. The YIPS presents the mid and long-term goal of 1) establishing an innovative new drug development institute that can encompass the entire cycle of new drug development, 2) gradually expanding the bio-healthcare integrated fields through close industry-academic cooperation between the College of Pharmacy and SL Bigen, and 3) accelerating bio-cluster formation by nurturing entrepreneurship among students and professors through the construction of the YSLI (Yonsei-SL Bigen Institute) building. As for the short-term development plans, the YIPS strives to 1) establish an electronic information system for pharmacology research, 2) support research personnel using various on-campus research promotion projects, 3) carry out additional recruitment of researchers in the YIPS, and 4) hold annual domestic and international academic conferences.

With various academic events canceled, scaled down, or converted to online formats due to the influence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many academic events promoted by the YIPS have also come to a halt inevitably. However, before the pandemic, the institute hosted a wide range of academic events, including Korea-China seminars on clinical pharmacology, invitation seminars with foreign researchers, an international exchange symposium with Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, graduate symposiums on the development of pharmaceutical industry specialization, and the Yonsei Science Park Drug Discovery Symposium.

Recently, the YIPS hosted the “College of Pharmacy Key Research Institute Symposium 2021,” which was carried out simultaneously online and offline on August 25. Starting with the welcoming speech by Dean Kang Hye-Young of the College of Pharmacy, the keynote speech presented by Professor Seok-Yong Lee at Duke University's College of Medicine, followed by guest lectures by Professor Hojung Nam of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at GIST, Professor Heon Yung Gee at the Yonsei College of Medicine and Professor Namkung Wan at the College of Pharmacy.

Development of Transportome Modulation Technology for Rare Disease Treatment

The YIPS is equipped with a wide range of advanced research equipment, including "advanced liquid chromatography" that measures the content of various organic compounds in the sample by classifying and separating constituent compounds, a "real-time bio metabolism analyzer" that measures intra-cellular mitochondrial breathing, corresponding actions, and ATP generation rates, and "real-time cell imaging analyzer" that measures cell growth and death through real-time image acquisition.

The "Center for Innovative Drug Research on Transportome Modulation," a prime project currently under progress by the YIPS, was selected for the University Oriented Key Research Institute Support Project organized by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea in 2018. This project aims to establish a university research base through infrastructure support, secure a foundation for developing innovative new drugs related to incurable diseases, and foster international competitive research groups in the field of pharmaceutical life science. A total of 63 researchers are participating in this study, including joint researchers, full-time research professors, master's and doctorate researchers, etc.

The first-phase base research of the project was conducted from 2018 to 2020 with the "discovery and mechanism study of transportome related to rare diseases." Based on the results of the first stage of research, the second stage will focus on target verification through the research on intermediary related to transportome, research on the intermediary of transportome disease, finding effective substances using the target active measurement method, securing leading materials through the optimization of effective substances, and developing technologies for the utilization of poorly water-soluble drugs and enhancement of bioavailability. Additionally, the YIPS aims to promote joint research by establishing a network of research cooperation among and within respective research groups to promote practical use through industry-academic linkages. The second stage of research on technicalization is planned to be conducted until 2023, while the last phase of research on industrialization is scheduled to be carried out until 2026.

The notable achievements by the YIPS from the following project include the "discovery of mitochondria glutamine transporter," "development of SLC26A4 pedrine inhibitor" for asthma treatment, and "development of Alzheimer's blood diagnosis technology" that measures amyloid-beta oligomer, which is uniquely found in Alzheimer's patients' brains, in the blood to diagnose sensitivity and specificity. In particular, patents for blood diagnosis technology for Alzheimer's disease have been processed with 4 billion won worth of technology transfer after positive clinical trials and verification.

The YIPS's "Development of Transportome Modulation Technology For Rare Disease Treatment" is expected to improve the quality of life of rare disease patients and serve as the starting point for the effort towards innovative drug discovery with high economic feasibility. It is also projected to successfully secure intellectual property rights and technology transfer of drug formation technology and transportome modulation, contributing to the development of the bio-industry in Korea and the national medical competitiveness.

For the past five years, researchers at the YIPS have published more than 400 papers, including 70 that have been ranked in the top 10% of JCR standards to be published in research journals such as Science, Cell Metabolism, Nature Communications, PNAS, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Cancer Research, Nature Chemistry, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Science Advances, Nature Medicine, Progress in Lipid Research, and Phytomedicine. The institute also has 90 domestic and foreign patent registration records, 24 technology transfers, and it was behind the establishment of three startups.

Based on excellent quantitative and qualitative research output, the YIPS is playing a role as a forward base securing the highest level of research excellence, fostering excellent research personnel with international competitiveness in the field of medicine and life sciences, transferring scientific achievements, and pursuing commercialization to continue its growth into a research institute with the best domestic and international reputation.

Drug discovery is noble, for it allows countless patients around the world suffering from rare diseases to regain a healthy and affluent life; it saves lives. With the entry into the era of the fourth industrial revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic serving as a turning point that attracted global attention to the field of bio-health industry as a major industry of the future, the growth of the Yonsei Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, an institute in charge key research in bio-health, is highly anticipated.

Professor Sung-Joo Hwang, the Head of the YIPS, and Professor Jung Min Han shared their thoughts on the future vision, direction of operation, and pending issues of the Yonsei Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

"South Korea achieved its first trade surplus 36 years ago in 1986, but the first time it achieved a surplus in pharmaceutical trade was in 2020. That was when COVID-19 was in full swing. The biopharmaceutical industry is regarded as not only an engine of national growth but also a vital segment of national security. The YIPS aims to become the nation's top research institute with an international reputation in the field of medicine and life sciences, serving as a forward base securing the highest level of research excellence, fostering excellent research personnel with international competitiveness in the field of medicine and life sciences, transferring scientific achievements and pursuing commercialization. Ultimately, through drug discovery, the YIPS would evolve into a world-class research group that greatly contributes to South Korea being a pharmaceutical powerhouse."

Professor Sung-Joo Hwang
Head of the Yonsei Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (YIPS),
Head of University Oriented Key Research Institute

"With COVID-19 being a pandemic on a global scale, we are seeing things that we have never seen before, and how much influence issues related to diseases and treatments have on society. On the Yonsei International Campus, which is being reborn as a high-tech industry-academic cluster representing South Korea, the YIPS will play a leading role in future pharmaceutical research and development by focusing on basic, intermediary, and convergence research on disease and new drug development."

Professor Jung Min Han
Steering Committee Member of the YIPS, College of Pharmacy