The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) and RIGHT Fund, a three-way fund for public health promotion, agreed last Friday to step up cooperation on research and development (R&D) concerning infectious diseases.

The state-run agency and Research Investment for Global Health Technology (RIGHT) Fund – created by contributions from the government, some private companies, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- signed a memorandum of understating on the sidelines of annual "Bio Korea 2020" event.

Their goal is to support domestic R&D and promote international cooperation on new and endemic infectious diseases, the institute said in a press release.

Under the agreement, the institute and the fund will establish a channel that helps exchange R&D information of domestic health and medical technology before the RIGHT Fund's third project on medium- and large-scale research on infectious diseases begins.

The channel covers information on domestic healthcare technology on new infectious diseases, such as Covid-19, and endemic diseases in developing countries.

The two organizations agreed to cooperate on preparing measures to support research institutions and companies that struggle to respond to infectious diseases more effectively.