The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety agreed to cooperate with the National Medical Center in making a national response to infectious diseases. (NMC)

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Medical Center (NMC) to cooperate in making a national response to Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.

Under the agreement, the two institutions will share information on infectious diseases, consult on licensing medicines and clinical data related to the diseases, exchange personnel, and share advice and information on the use of treatment.

The ministry said that they would activate a working-group council and operate a pool of expert workforce bodies and exchange personnel.

The regulatory agency has been running a project and a team to support the rapid development of Covid-19 drugs and vaccines by helping developers enter into clinical trials. It has approved two studies of vaccines and 13 researchers for treatment as of Monday.

The ministry has been pushing for the MOU when Minister of Food and Drug Safety Eui-kyung visited the NMC in April and agreed on the need for cooperation between the two institutions to develop Covid-19 drugs and conduct researches into infectious diseases.

The NMC was designated as a state hospital for infectious diseases in February 2017. It is in charge of clinical research on the diagnosis and treatment of contagious diseases such as Covid-19 and the treatment and examination of patients.

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