The Korean government has pledged nearly $9 billion over the next 5 years to help domestic drug makers develop 20 new medicines, a set of strategies entitled Pharma Korea 2020. The government will give tax breaks to local pharma companies investing in R&D, and $448 million to help them expand their market presence and acquire overseas drug makers. Past annual investment in Korean pharmaceutical R&D has been $860 million from both government and private capital. To meet the Korea 2020 goals, Kyeong-ho Lee, chairman and CEO of the Korea Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, in a recent editorial, stressed the importance of attracting overseas talent and in-licensing drug candidates from international companies. He encouraged the industry to secure 20–30 new drug candidates from abroad in hopes of developing one global blockbuster, and focus on overseas mergers and acquisitions to expand local manufacturing and marketing capacity. Lee listed Israeli company Teva of Petach Tikva as an example worth emulating for its emphasis on generics, which analysts say is the foundation for Korea's growth plans. “Korean companies suffer from a lack of R&D resources, and... the acquisition of biosimilar expertise is viewed as one way for companies to move up the added-value scale: from biosimilars, to bio-betters, to genuinely innovative drugs,” said Robert McTiernan, a healthcare analyst with IHS of Englewood, Colorado. In June, local biotech Celltrion, of Incheon City, received positive recommendations from the European Medicines Agency for Inflectra and Remsima, biosimilars of blockbuster biologic Remicade (infliximab), made by Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, New Jersey, for the same indications. In the same month, AstraZeneca of Cambridge, UK, expressed an interest in acquiring the Korean biotech.