Global Drug Regulators Summit in Seoul Takes Up AI and Animal Testing Alternatives

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) will host a drug regulators summit in Seoul from 3 to 6 November 2026. The meeting is the summit and general assembly of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA), held at Conrad Seoul in Yeongdeungpo-gu with heads of major regulators attending.

What the drug regulators summit in Seoul covers

ICMRA includes 43 regulatory agencies from 40 member countries, along with the World Health Organization (WHO). The executive committee meets on 3 November, the summit on 4 November and the general assembly on 5 November. Attendees include Emer Cooke, Administrator of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Yasuhiro Fujiwara, President of Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), together with heads of drug regulatory agencies from 30 countries.

The 4 November summit will cover AI in drug regulation, new approach methodologies (NAMs) that use AI and organoids to reduce or replace animal testing, and patient-centered drug development alongside stronger regulatory systems. MFDS will co-chair the AI session with Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA), which doubles as the International Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Industry Symposium (AIRIS) 2026.

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Why it matters

It is the first ICMRA meeting held in Korea since the country joined as a founding member in 2013. MFDS was also selected in September for a 2026-2029 term on the ICMRA executive committee. MFDS previously co-hosted AIRIS with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2024 and with WHO in 2025.

Oh Yu-Kyoung, head of MFDS, called the gathering “a stage for strategic regulatory diplomacy” meant to “lay a practical cooperation foundation that supports domestic pharmaceutical and biotech corporations in entering global markets.” Bilateral talks with the EMA and Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on joint reviews and exchanges of drug regulatory information are planned. The source does not report outcomes from them, so their result remains open.

Source: Chosun Biz, 3 November 2026.