Pasteur expands in Asia

A new Pasteur Institute in Korea, inaugurated on April 12, will begin its research activities in September of this year. This week, it was announced that Ulf Nehrbass will be the new institute's first director, for a period of 3 years. Nehrbass currently leads the Nuclear Cell Biology Research Unit at Pasteur in Paris. “The overall topic [of the new center] is 'from genomes to drugs,'” he told The Scientist regarding the research focus of the new institute. “This is what the Koreans wanted, and I believe that we are in a good position to deliver it.” “We will be looking at disease models at a cellular level,” he said, “and trying to find chemical leads in order to interfere with the diseases.” The institute will concentrate its research on diagnostic tools for tuberculosis, malaria, leukemia, and stomach and liver cancer, with the deliberate aim of generating applied research.In line with this, it will entertain strong links with Korean industry, which is expected to supply funding of about €45 million. The bulk of the financing, however, will come from the Korean government, which has promised €100 million over 10 years.The Korean government invests an impressive 7% of its gross domestic product in research, which contrasts starkly with the 3% the European Union hopes to achieve by 2010. In addition to finances, the Koreans will bring a considerable amount of technical skill to the project. “Their level of technological excellence is impressive,” said Nehrbass. “What they lack is certain coherence in the know-how. This is something which Pasteur can bring, as well as know-how in business development.” Pasteur will supply the business and strategic model for the institute, biomedical expertise in the form of research staff and direction, as well as intellectual property, and of course the name, all of which carry considerable appeal for the Koreans.Choi Kwangyun, science and technology spokesperson at the South Korean Embassy in London, said: “This will be a flagship project for the Korean government. By upgrading the Korean capability in bioscience and by introducing a prestigious foreign institute, we hope to give an impetus to Korean research and technology.”Michèle Boccoz, director of the international office at Pasteur in Paris, said that they were approached by the Korean minister of science and technology in September 2002. “The Koreans told us that they had studied several models of research institutes and that the model of the Pasteur Institute appealed to them, on the one hand because of the interface between research and public health and on the other because of the public–private interface,” Boccoz told The Scientist.The Korean institute will ultimately house some 250 staff and could act as a magnet for Koreans who have gone abroad for their research and training.Although this is not the primary goal of the Korean institute, it is high on the agenda of another Asian project. Pasteur is also working with the Chinese government on a project to open a research foundation in Chiang Hai in the coming year. It will focus on public health needs and viral diseases. “The Chinese have made it very clear that they hope this institute will have a Diaspora effect,” said Boccoz.The two new projects will add to Pasteur's presence in Asia, which already includes institutes, foundations, and partnerships in Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Japan. There are more than 20 Pasteur Institutes around the world.

Pasteur expands in Asia

French institute's center in Korea opened this month, Chinese project to follow

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