Medicity is a brand that represents Daegu’s superior medical services and aims to develop and globalize the medical technologies and services of Korea through the development of the hospital service industry, convergence of medical industries, and successful establishment of a medical innovation complex.
Boasting six major medical training institutions, over 3,200 medical institutions, and a medical workforce of over 27,000, Daegu is renowned for its active research on difficult-to-cure diseases and world-class medical treatments.
With the easy access to the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Cluster and Suseong Medical Zone, Daegu is inarguably the heart of cutting-edge medicine and medical infrastructure in Korea.
Joint Commission International(JCI) accreditation represents that the medical services provided by a hospital are equivalent in quality and patient safety to medical services internationally.
Medivalley is a high-tech medical industrial complex established by the national government for the purpose of developing the national medical industry into a leading industry worldwide. The project, which began in 2009 and is scheduled for completion in 2038, has a total budget of USD $4.6 billion and was assigned to an area of 1.05 million square meters in Daegu Innovation City, Dong-gu by the Daegu Metropolitan Government in August 2009. Medivalley aims to develop 16 new pharmaceutical drugs and 18 high-tech medical devices and introduce them to the world market.
Groundbreaking for Medivalley officially took place in October 2011, followed by the completion of four key research support centers—the Drug Development Support Center, Medical Device Development Support Center, Laboratory Animal Center, and Clinical Trial Materials Manufacturing Center—in November 2013. Starting from 2014, Medivalley has been involved in full-scale research and development activities and the attraction of anchor businesses to the complex.
In the last few years, Medivalley has welcomed the Korea Brain Research Institute, KM Application Center, and the 3D Convergence Technology Support Center, which were completed in Dec 2014, June 2015, and September 2015 respectively. Eight more institutions that will soon join Medivalley as the result of construction or relocation include the: High-tech Medical Genome Research Institute, Laboratory Animal Resources Bank, High-tech Clinical Trial Center, K-Medical Center, Medical Technology Testing & Training Institute, ICT Clinical Trial Support Center, Medical Device SW Testing & Certification Center, and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Daegu Office.
As of the end of 2015, a total of 98 companies are scheduled to move into the Medivalley area, including 43 companies—34 medical device, 8 pharmaceutical & biotechnology, and 1 other company—in the Medivalley research complex, and 55 companies—52 medical device, 2 pharmaceutical & biotechnology, and 1 medical information company—in the INNOPOLIS Daegu Medical R&D District.
In 2016, Medivalley plans to welcome the National Heart Center, the Center for Inter-Industry Collaboration, and the Academic Research Institute. Preparations are also being made for government-led feasibility studies on the establishment of a high-tech brain research cluster and a national bio-imaging center as well as a modular-based medical devices platform development project.