The case of the "Minimum Residual Type (LDS) Syringe" jointly supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Public Procurement Service, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety received the best award at the Active Administrative Excellence Contest in the first half of 2021.

On the 24th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that the case of production and introduction of LDS injectors was finalized as the Best Active Administration Award in the first half of 2021 through the first and second preliminary rounds.

The case of LDS injections began with cooperation with related agencies to secure vaccine syringes around December 24 last year, when the initial supply of COVID-19 vaccines was insufficient. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, POONGLIM Pharmatech, and Samsung Electronics (005930) each supported the rapid licensing and commercialization of LDS syringes. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups established a mass production system for LDS syringes, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety supported rapid certification at home and abroad, and the Public Procurement Service supported emergency procurement contracts. Through this, it was possible to produce and supply vaccine syringes in a timely manner.

In particular, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups urgently launched a "large and medium-sized win-win smart factory construction project" in which technical mentors of large companies are deployed to POONGLIM Pharmatech, which has patented technology but lacks production experience. The administrative period for supporting smart factories was drastically reduced from three months to three days, and more than 10 million LDS syringes were prepared every month through low-cost facility facility funds (18 billion won) and quality and production personnel support (41 people).

Through technical regulatory consulting, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reduced the approval of injection needles from 25 days to 3 days and from 25 days to 10 days, and promoted rapid approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Public Procurement Service formed a task force (TF) team dedicated to vaccines to actively procure and signed 140 million LDS syringes to complete 14 million successful vaccinations.

"We were able to respond quickly to the COVID-19 crisis through active administration," said Lee Sang-yoon, a planning and coordinator at the Public Procurement Service. "We will always carry out procurement administration in a challenging and active manner to solve various problems in the procurement field."

Lee Byung-kwon, a policy planning officer at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We will continue to push for regulatory reform and active administration for small and medium-sized companies and small business owners suffering from COVID-19."