CEPI and Korea discuss future of AI-driven international health cooperation

• Seminar held at the National Assemblydiscussed strategic link between AI technology and Health ODA
• CEPI expects Korea to play a leading role in the new AI platform, Pandemic Preparedness Engine
• Consensus reached among Korean government, National Assembly, international organisations and industry to expand AI-enabled Health ODA

OSLO/SEOUL, February 4, 2026: The pandemic preparedness organisation, CEPI, in partnership with the National Assembly Global Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Forum (GSDHF) and the Korean Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health (KPFGH), held a seminar on February 4 at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea discussing new directions for health Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The event highlighted positioning the Republic of Korea as a global hub for AI and health through bringing together its work across AI and the biosciences sectors.

Hosted by the National Assembly and co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), and CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), the event was convened to explore new models of health cooperation that could harness AI to move beyond traditional aid methods and strengthen Korea’s role in vaccine R&D and pandemic preparedness.

Approximately 100 participants attended the event, including members of the National Assembly Assemblyperson Jaejung Lee and Jumin Park, and other members from both Forums (Assemblypersons Miae Kim, Yoon Kim, Hyeryeon Baek, Kangil Lee, Sujin Lee, Jiho Cha, and Boyoon Choi). In addition, officials from the Office for Government Policy Coordination, MOFA, KDCA, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) were also in attendance.

During his keynote presentation, Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, highlighted that SK bioscience’s SKYCovione ™ COVID-19 vaccine– developed with CEPI and partner support – was a landmark case as the first ever medical product designed using AI to be approved anywhere in the world. He emphasised that such international collaboration demonstrates Korea’s immense potential to lead global innovation in AI and biotechnology.

Dr. Hatchett also underscored the powerful economic spillover effect of Korea and CEPI’s partnership, with Korea’s ODA and funding to CEPI serving as a “catalytic investment” to its domestic bioscience industry.

Furthermore, Dr. Hatchett introduced the Pandemic Preparedness Engine, a revolutionary new AI platform which will be a key feature of CEPI’s upcoming strategy. The Engine will integrate multiple datasets into a single, secure platform for scientists to identify whether a pathogen has pandemic potential and propose potential vaccine candidate designs. The AI tool could complete this work in minutes, hours and days rather than in months helping to expedite the ambitious goal, spearheaded by CEPI and embraced by the Republic of Korea, to develop vaccines against new viruses within 100 days after identification.

To realise this vision, Dr. Hatchett formally proposed that KISTI serve as a leading “AI Factory” – a secure, regional supercomputing hub for the Asia-Pacific region. He noted that Korea’s world-leading supercomputing infrastructure, combined with Korea’s expertise in vaccine development and manufacturing capacity, makes it the ideal “Exemplar” for this global AI system, which also aligns with the Korean government’s national strategies to foster AI and Biotechnology as core future industries.

In the subsequent panel discussion moderated by Professor Choi Jae-wook, attendees agreed that international cooperation must transition toward joint R&D and capacity building powered by cutting edge AI and biotechnology.

Yong-sik Kwon, Director-General of the Development Cooperation Planning Bureau at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, stated, “We will continue multilateral cooperation for sharing pandemic management models and leading global health, and will position health-sector ODA as a core strategy in the 4th Basic Plan for International Development Cooperation.”

Kyu-ho Lee, Director-General of the Development Cooperation Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized the authenticity of ODA and the importance of global solidarity, saying, “I expect that Korean companies will also move toward pursuing the public-interest values of ODA.”

Do-geun Kim, Director-General of Centre for Vaccine Research at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), explained, “We aim for rapid vaccine development through the establishment of a Korean-style PPX and the formation of a global consortium, using AI technology to advance vaccine development.”

Hyuk-mo Nam, Director of the Advanced Biotechnology Division at the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), stated, “Through the fusion of AI and biotechnology, we aim to address the uncertainties and cost issues in responding to infectious diseases. At the government level, we will actively promote policies to utilize PPX and supercomputing.”

In-seong Ahn, Principal Researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), emphasized, “Improving the performance of supercomputing resources and ensuring the timely alignment of AI-based cooperation are critical. National-level administrative and institutional support is essential.”

Assemblyperson Jaejung Lee stated, “The rapid advancement of AI is fundamentally changing the R&D environment. We must strategically integrate AI with Health ODA to ensure equitable access to vaccines and sustainable growth for Korea’s bio industry.”

CEPI’s visit to Korea coincides with a joint pandemic simulation exercise scheduled for February 5-6 in Seoul with CEPI, the KDCA, MFDS, IVI, and industry partners. The event will stress-test Korea’s readiness to respond to a future pandemic to identify bottlenecks and refine the 100 Days Mission playbook.

CEPI also this week announced a new partnership with Samsung Biologics providing $20 million in initial funding for the company to join CEPI’s Vaccine Manufacturing Facility Network. Samsung Biologics will focus on establishing rapid manufacturing processes for recombinant protein vaccines, further strengthening global readiness to produce vaccines against future pandemic threats.