1. ¹Department of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
2. ²SiBiono GeneTech, Shenzhen, China
3. ³Division of Gene Therapy Science, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

Correspondence: Sunyoung Kim, Department of Biological Sciences, Seoul National university, Shillim 9 Dong, Kwan-Ak-Gu, Seoul 151-742, Korea. E-mail: sunyoung@plaza.snu.ac.kr

Received 26 January 2007; Accepted 29 August 2007; Published online 11 December 2007.

Abstract

Asian countries, in particular China, Japan, and Korea, have been aggressively researching and developing gene medicines over the last 15 years or so. In China, an adenovirus expressing p53 was approved for commercial use in the year 2003, and has been on the actual market since then, becoming the world's first commercial gene-based drug. In Japan and Korea, many interesting scientific discoveries have been made, and industrially valuable technologies have been developed. It is particularly noteworthy to see that in these countries, gene therapy has been very keenly nurtured in relation with industrial and financial sectors. Despite remarkable progresses made in Asia, however, their activities have not been visibly noticed by many scientists in the US and European countries. This article briefly reviews key features of the past achievements and recent progresses made in three Asian countries.