Ministry of Health and Welfare, RMAF hold 2026 RMAF Annual Symposium
Minister's commendations awarded to contributors to advanced regenerative medicine
South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Regenerative Medicine Advancement Foundation will hold the 2026 RMAF Annual Symposium at Peace & Park Convention in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, from Tuesday through Wednesday.
Held under the theme "Advanced Regenerative Medicine Innovation and Patient Access," the event will bring together global policy trends and the latest technology in advanced regenerative medicine, with a particular focus on concrete innovation strategies and cooperative frameworks to improve patients' access to treatment.
Now in its third year, the symposium will open Tuesday with a minister's commendation ceremony honoring individuals who have contributed to the advancement of advanced regenerative medicine, followed by presentations from domestic and international experts on global policy and regulatory trends as well as the latest developments in technology and industry.
Among the 30 recipients at the commendation ceremony are Kim Min-young, a professor at Bundang CHA Hospital of CHA University of Medicine, who was the first in the world to clinically verify the efficacy of cord blood cell therapy for patients with cerebral palsy, and Cho Yong-jun, chairman of DongKoo Bio & Pharma, who contributed to the industry's development through expanded open-innovation investment and the creation of shared infrastructure.
The policy and regulatory session will cover the experiences and recent regulatory trends of major countries — including Japan, Taiwan and China — in operating advanced regenerative medicine systems. The technology and industry session will introduce the latest developments in hospital-centered CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapy, iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell)-derived therapeutics and assembloid technology, which combines multiple organoids, along with efforts to expand patient access.
On Wednesday, the second day of the event, a global workshop featuring faculty from Osaka University in Japan will cover cell therapy manufacturing process design and quality control. The program will then introduce evaluation models from the advanced regenerative medicine technology valuation support project along with case studies from participating companies and institutions, followed by networking sessions for researchers and industry stakeholders.
Choi Kyung-il, the ministry's director for advanced medical support, said this year has been meaningful for bringing advanced regenerative medicine closer to the public, as the first advanced regenerative medicine treatment plans received approval and an amended law enabling in-vivo gene therapy is set to take effect. "The government will expand support and continuously refine the regulatory system to improve the public's access to treatment and promote the development of innovative technologies," he said.
thlee@heraldcorp.com
