국립보건연구원

What 국립보건연구원 does

The National Institute of Health (국립보건연구원, NIH Korea) is a Korean national research institute operating under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (질병관리청, KDCA), itself subordinate to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Headquartered in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do (Osongsaengmyeong 2-ro 187, Heungdeok-gu), the institute conducts biomedical and public health research across four principal divisions: Future Healthcare Research (genomics, healthcare AI, women's health, KoGES), Chronic Disease Convergence Research (cardiovascular, brain, endocrine/kidney, respiratory/allergy, intractable disease, particulate matter), the National Institute of Infectious Disease (viruses, bacteria, zoonotic disease, antimicrobial resistance, microbiome), and Vaccine Research (public vaccines, vaccine immunology, mRNA).

Its core platforms include the National Biobank of Korea (국립중앙인체자원은행, NBK) managing 20.87 million specimen vials from 1.23 million donors and supporting 5,446 research projects; the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) cohort of approximately 245,000 participants aged 40+ tracked since 2001 with 2-4 year follow-up cycles; the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) and iCReaT clinical research management platform; the National Medical Science Library (국립의과학지식센터, NCMIK) providing access to 931,793 academic articles and 16,941 research reports; the National Pathogen Resource Bank (국가병원체자원은행); the Dementia Brain Bank (치매은행) operating across four designated hospitals (Samsung Seoul Hospital since 2016, Seoul National University Hospital since 2017, Pusan National University Hospital since 2018, Myongji Hospital since 2021); and the KNIH Biobank Array, a Korean population-specific genotyping chip. The Korean Biobank Network (KBN) coordinates an additional ~20 universities and 33 hospitals holding 770,000 donors and 10.06 million vials.

NIH Korea does not operate on commercial revenue mechanics. As a government state entity, it is funded through Korean central government appropriations via KDCA, and research resources (biospecimens, cohort data, clinical trial registration) are distributed to researchers through application-based processes rather than commercial transactions. Pricing for research services is not publicly disclosed. Customer segments are academic and research institutions (primary), government health agencies (primary), and pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies (secondary), with international coordination via WHO, US CDC, ECDC, and Japan's NIID for infectious disease research. Marketing channels center on academic publications (including the international Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives journal), international symposiums, card news, and public health information portals rather than commercial go-to-market activity.

Name

국립보건연구원

Legal name

국립보건研究院 (National Institute of Health)

Website

https://nih.go.kr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

National Institute of Health, Korea (국립보건연구원) is a Korean government research institute under KDCA operating national biobanks, the KoGES cohort, clinical research platforms, and infectious disease labs. It serves academic, government, and pharmaceutical researchers with biospecimens, genomic data, and public health infrastructure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAJALAB

Health Research Funding Agencies (Public/Quasi-Public)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Public Health Funding, Grants & Program Administration

SECONDARYHLAJAOAM

Global Health Research, Clinical Trials & Product Development Partnerships (PDPs)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Global Health Initiatives & Partnerships

SECONDARYEDAHAGAJ

Health Informatics & Digital Health Programs

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Medical & Health Sciences Universities

SECONDARYHLAJAIAA

National Public Health Reference Laboratories

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Public Health Laboratories & Reference Testing Networks

Keywords

• Public health research
• Biobanking services
• Infectious disease monitoring
• Vaccine development support
• Biomedical research

Headquarters

HQ city

Cheongju (청주)

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The National Institute of Health (국립보건연구원) is a South Korean government-affiliated national research institute operating under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It conducts biomedical and public health research and operates a network of national resource centers—including biobanks, pathogen repositories, stem cell and regenerative medicine centers, vaccine development support, and a dementia brain bank—that supply biological specimens and research infrastructure to scientific and medical institutions.

Product overview

국립보건연구소 (NIH, National Institute of Health, Korea) is a national research institute under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (질병관리청) conducting biomedical and public health research. Its product portfolio consists of research infrastructure platforms, biobanking services, clinical research management systems, and specialized research divisions. Core platforms include the 국립중앙인체자원은행 (NBK, National Biobank of Korea) managing 1.23M donors and 20.87M specimen vials; the 임상연구정보서비스 (CRIS) for clinical trial registration; the 임상연구관리시스템 (iCReaT) for project management; and the 한국인유전체역학조사사업 (KoGES) with ~245,000 cohort participants since 2001. The 국립의과학지식센터 (NCMIK) provides the knowledge platform with 931,793 academic articles. The 치매뇌은행 (Dementia Brain Bank) provides brain tissue resources through four hospital partners. Research is organized across the 미래의료연구부 (Future Healthcare, including AI), 만성질환융복합연구부 (Chronic Disease Convergence), and 국립감염병연구소 (National Institute of Infectious Disease), supported by facilities including the 공공백신개발지원센터 and 국가줄기세포은행.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• National Biobank of Korea (한국인체자원은행) Operates a centralized repository of human biospecimens and associated health data, providing researchers with access to population-based biological samples for biomedical studies.
• National Pathogen Resource Bank (병원체자원은행) Collects, stores, and distributes pathogenic microbial resources to support infectious disease research, surveillance, and diagnostic development for academic and public health institutions.
• National Stem Cell Regeneration Center (줄기세포재생센터) Provides stem cell lines, regenerative medicine research support, and related infrastructure to research institutions advancing cell therapy and regenerative medicine.
• Public Vaccine Development Support Center (공공백신개발지원센터) Provides infrastructure, technical support, and process development assistance for publicly funded vaccine development programs targeting infectious diseases.
• Advanced Regenerative Medicine Safety Management Institution (첨단재생의료 안전관리기관) Designated safety oversight body that monitors and evaluates advanced regenerative medicine products and clinical applications to ensure patient safety and regulatory compliance.
• National Medical Library (국립의료원) Maintains and provides access to medical and biomedical literature, data, and reference resources for healthcare professionals, researchers, and policy makers.
• Dementia Brain Bank (치매뇌은행) Collects, preserves, and distributes post-mortem brain tissue and related clinical data to researchers studying dementia and neurodegenerative diseases.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• 가톨릭대학교 (Catholic University of Korea)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for joint research collaboration, signed mutual cooperation agreement for academic research exchange between NIH and the university.
• Korean Biobank Network (KBN) - Various Universities and HospitalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of approximately 20 universities and 33 hospitals participating in the Korean Biobank Network for population and disease-based biobanking. Includes: 고려대학교, 서울대학교, 한양대학교, 전남대학교, 아주대학교 and others.
• Samsung Seoul Hospital Dementia Brain Bank (삼성서울병원)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst designated dementia brain bank (2016) as part of the national Dementia Brain Bank network. Conducting neuropathological diagnosis standardization research and infrastructure for brain tissue acquisition.
• Seoul National University Hospital Brain Autopsy Registry (서울대학교병원)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSecond designated dementia brain bank (2017) operating the brain autopsy registry and conducting brain tissue acquisition for dementia research.
• Pusan National University Hospital (부산대학교병원)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThird designated dementia brain bank (2018) conducting body fluid biomarker-based dementia diagnosis standardization research.
• Myongji Hospital (명지병원)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFourth designated dementia brain bank (2021) participating in the expanded national dementia brain bank network.
• International Health Organizations (WHO, CDC, ECDC, NIID)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with global health authorities including WHO, US CDC, European CDC, and Japan's NIID for infectious disease research and public health response.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• UK Biobank: A large-scale prospective cohort biobank with 500,000+ participants, providing researchers access to genomic, lifestyle and health data. Directly comparable as a national-scale population biobank resource similar in mission to the National Biobank of Korea and KoGES, both serving as foundational population genomics infrastructure for academic and industry research.
• Francis Crick Institute: A leading UK biomedical research institute with government and charitable funding. Comparable as a flagship national research institute covering genomics, cancer, infectious disease, and neuroscience, with similar scale of intramural research programs and external collaboration models.
• All of Us Research Program (NIH): The U.S. precision medicine cohort program under NIH targeting 1 million+ participants with rich genomic, clinical, and lifestyle data. Direct peer as a national-scale population cohort infrastructure initiative competing for the same researcher and industry-partner mindshare as NIH Korea's KoGES.
• National Institute of Infectious Diseases (Japan, NIID): Japan's national infectious disease research institute under the Ministry of Health. Direct peer given the explicit WHO/CDC/ECDC/NIID international partnership citation in NIH Korea's data; both operate pathogen resource banks, BSL-3 laboratories, and vaccine research programs as government-mandated infectious disease control towers.
• Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL): Finland's national public health research institute, notable for the FinnGen program that integrates national biobank genomic data with health records. Comparable as a population-genomics-anchored public health research institute, with a similar model of integrating national health registries, biobanking, and precision medicine initiatives.
• Pasteur Institute: France's flagship infectious disease research institute with global network. Comparable as a national-level biomedical research foundation with pathogen resource banks, vaccine development programs, and longstanding international public-health research collaboration — directly overlapping with NIH Korea's infectious disease and vaccine development mandate.
• RIKEN: Japan's national research and development agency covering life sciences, including genomic and biomedical research. Comparable as a government-funded research body operating population genomics, brain bank infrastructure, and large-scale cohort studies analogous to KoGES.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH): The U.S. federal biomedical research agency that operates the largest public-sector biomedical research portfolio in the world. Directly comparable as a national research funding and infrastructure body — both run large-scale cohort studies (NIH's All of Us vs. NIH Korea's KoGES), intramural research programs, and operate under government agencies (HHS vs. KDCA).
• Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC): China's national public health agency with research arm functions. Comparable as a regional national public health research body operating large-scale biobanking and infectious disease surveillance, though at substantially greater scale and with looser international collaboration than NIH Korea.
• Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA): The parent agency of NIH Korea, KDCA functions as Korea's CDC equivalent. Directly comparable as the operational counterpart — KDCA handles surveillance and policy while NIH Korea handles underlying research infrastructure, but both occupy adjacent public-health-research roles.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1JVn_8AtiMdBuHbwSyzoHw
• Instagraminstagram.com/_koreanih_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/%EA%B5%AD%EB%A6%BD%EB%B3%B4%EA%B1%B4%EC%97%B0%EA%B5%AC%EC%9B%90

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about 국립보건연구원