Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) is pursuing both 'domestic production of goat-specific veterinary drugs' and the 'establishment of a supra-regional animal drug innovation hub' through the RISE project, positioning itself to become a national innovation hub for the animal drug industry.

JBNU recently launched the project 'Expansion and Domestic Production of Goat-Specific Pharmaceuticals: AI-Based Development of Veterinary Drugs and On-Site Monitoring System Development.' The project aims to expand veterinary drug development, which has been concentrated on cattle and pigs, to goats. It seeks to secure domestically produced, goat-specific pharmaceuticals tailored to the goat industry, where herd numbers have been steadily increasing, and to reduce dependence on imports.

At the same time, the project focuses on minimizing farm losses by establishing an on-site monitoring system that analyzes biological and environmental data collected at farms using an AI-based system, enabling early prediction of disease risk and supporting tailored prescriptions and management.

Professor Park Cheol of the College of Veterinary Medicine serves as Principal Investigator (PI), with Professor Kim Hee-kwon of the College of Medicine and Professor Hong Seung-pyo of the College of Natural Science leading core research. External research organizations, including the Korea Animal Drug Evaluation Research Institute, Woojin B&G Co., Ltd., and the Animal Drug Commercialization Technology Research Association, are participating to enhance the development of goat-specific pharmaceuticals and their practical applicability.

The research team plans to link AI analysis results with goat-specific drug prescriptions to implement a 'customized disease management system' and produce outcomes that can be experienced directly by farmers.

In addition, JBNU is advancing the establishment of a supra-regional innovation hub to enhance the overall competitiveness of the animal drug industry. Through the project 'Establishment of a Supra-Regional Animal Drug Innovation Hub: Leading Model for Drug and Autogenous Vaccine Evaluation Guidelines and Regulatory Reform,' the aim is to develop internationally benchmarked scientific evaluation guidelines for new drugs and autogenous vaccines and to create an industrial ecosystem encompassing research, evaluation, demonstration, and human resource development.

This project is led by Professor Kim Won-il of the College of Veterinary Medicine, with roles shared among the Animal Drug Evaluation Research Institute, the Pohang Technopark Green Vaccine Demonstration Support Center, POSTECH, and the JBNU Regional Innovation Center.

Lee Jeong-hwan, Director of the JBNU Regional Innovation Center, said, "The Regional Innovation Center has capabilities in leveraging industry–university–research networking related to veterinary drugs and in data analysis. Based on this, it will play an important role in establishing a veterinary drug production valley in Jeollabuk-do and in drug manufacturing."

With JBNU's project to domestically produce goat-specific pharmaceuticals and the initiative to establish a supra-regional animal drug innovation hub proceeding in tandem, it is expected that a 'full-cycle animal drug innovation system' will be established—ranging from field-tailored drug development to the establishment of evaluation and regulatory systems that meet international standards, and to the training of practical professionals. In addition, this is expected to further strengthen the 'JUIC Triangle' project, a core initiative of the Glocal University 30 project.