South Korean firms to forge vaccine alliance in anticipation of patent waiver

A group of South Korean biopharmaceutical companies are in talks to forge a consortium for co-production of COVID-19 vaccines in anticipation of a patent waiver, industry sources said Tuesday. According to the bio industry insiders who declined to be named, the talks involve about 10 local firms including Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Genexine, GC Pharma, GeneOne Life Science, ST Pharm, as well as Seoul National University, Pohang University of Science and Technology and Myongji Medical Foundation. T

May 18, 2021

GC Pharma’s plasma treatment still in demand, even after failing to get approval

Local demand for biotech company GC Pharma‘s experimental plasma treatment against the new coronavirus remains even after the company failed to receive conditional use approval here, according to industry sources Tuesday. According to sources, Kyungpook National University Hospital on Friday received an emergency use authorization for the treatment, just three days after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety rejected GC Pharma‘s application for conditional use. In South Korea, expe

May 18, 2021

SK hynix mulling complete acquisition of former foundry unit of Magnachip

SK hynix is considering a complete takeover of domestic foundry company Key Foundry, of which it holds a 49.8 percent stake in, industry sources said Tuesday. Key Foundry was separated from Magnachip last year, and become an independent 8-inch wafer foundry firm operating in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. SK hynix currently controls 49.8 percent of the company via a private equity fund set up by Magnus PEF. The rest – a 50 percent stake plus one share-- is held by the fund&rsquo

May 18, 2021

LG to invest $100m to build massive computer system for AI development

LG Group announced Monday that it plans to invest over $100 million over the next three years to develop high-performance computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence development. LG Group’s AI research and development unit LG AI Research will build computing infrastructure with 600 billion machine learning parameters. The new computing system, capable of making 95.7 quadrillion calculations per second, will be introduced during the second half of the year and followed by an AI m

May 18, 2021

LG Innotek holds online and offline exhibitions for partners, general public

LG Innotek, LG Group’s cutting-edge manufacturer of materials and components, is holding an exhibition to showcase its business history, current market status and product lineups. It will take place online and offline simultaneously. The purpose of the event is to help LG Innotek’s business partners and the public to better understand the company, it said. The online exhibition comprises two separate segments. One is designed especially for the company’s corporate partners,

May 18, 2021

Clubhouse to launch Android version in S. Korea

Audio-based social networking service Clubhouse will launch on Google's Android operating system in South Korea this week, its US-based developer Alpha Exploration Co. said Tuesday, in a move to expand its growing user base. While the app had previously been available only on iPhones, the company said it will upload a beta version of the app available for download on Google Play in South Korea on Wednesday. The audio social media app, in which users enter rooms to chat with one another by voic

May 18, 2021

Will Samsung’s $17b US investment be enough to survive chip race?

The race to outpace competitors with massive capacity expansions is intensifying among global chip manufacturers and the time for Samsung Electronics to announce its own investment plans is approaching. While South Korea is pinning its hopes on Samsung, the world’s No. 1 memory player, to announce massive investments as early as this week, the market is paying close attention to the size of its spending commitment and whether it will be enough for the Korean chipmaker to maintain its p

May 17, 2021

Google faces anti-trust probe over Android Auto

The South Korean government has started looking into an allegation that Google restricted applications downloaded from other app stores from accessing Android Auto, the company’s mobile operating software for in-car use. According to the industry and government sources Sunday, the Korea Communications Commission has recently opened a probe to see if Google has violated the Telecommunications Business Act here. “The commission would see if Google has unfairly limited end users&rsqu

May 16, 2021

Samsung BioLogics-Moderna vaccine supply deal imminent: reports

South Korean media is zeroing in on Samsung BioLogics as the most likely partner of Moderna in its COVID-19 vaccine production here, a much-anticipated deal as the country deals with a vaccine shortage. A formal announcement of the Samsung-Moderna deal will be made during South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s visit this week to the US for a summit with US President Joe Biden, a local TV station reported Friday, with a flurry of related reports coming from other media outlets over the wee

May 16, 2021

S. Korea's logic chip capacity to further shrink as US expands: report

South Korea's capacity share in the advanced logic chip market is likely to decline further down the road, a report showed Friday, as the United States pushes to beef up its presence by attracting more global semiconductor firms to build factories on its turf. South Korea was expected to represent 20 percent of global wafer capacity of 10-nanometer (nm) and below nodes this year to rank second in the sector, but its share was projected to decline to 19 percent in 2025 and 17 percent in 2027 to

May 14, 2021

Samsung expands blockchain support on Galaxy smartphones

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it has expanded support for blockchain users trading virtual assets on its Galaxy smartphones amid rising interest in cryptocurrencies. The South Korean tech said its latest update will allow users to easily manage their transactions by importing their virtual assets stored on select cold hardware wallets to the Samsung Blockchain Wallet available on most Galaxy smartphones. "Support for hardware wallets provides Galaxy blockchain with a consistent user

May 14, 2021

Biotech firms could expand partnerships with US vaccine makers: reports

South Korean biotech and pharmaceutical companies could expand their partnerships with COVID-19 vaccine providers in the US, as an upcoming bilateral summit between leaders of the two countries could serve as a meeting ground, according to local news reports on Thursday. The reports said executive members of Samsung Group and SK Group could meet with Moderna and Novavax to discuss potential contract manufacturing deals, when they visit the US as part of a large-scale delegate that would join P

May 13, 2021

Samsung SDS simplifies freight shipping like online shopping

Samsung SDS on Thursday introduced Cello Square 4.0, a digital logistics platform that makes air and ocean freight shipping as easy as online shopping. According to the IT solutions unit of Samsung Group, the new platform, set for launch in August, is designed to support export activities of small and mid-sized companies who lack experience in large-scale shipping. “When clients export big cargo or a large amount of goods from point A to point Z, they have difficulties in finding the r

May 13, 2021

Seoul sets out to protect chip prowess

South Korea on Thursday announced a sweeping set of new government policies aimed at safeguarding and further expanding the country’s prowess in chips, which include the most generous tax credits ever given to chipmakers -- up to 50 percent. The chip manufacturers, led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, responded to the support package by committing investments of over 510 trillion won ($458.1 billion) in total over the next 10 years. Samsung unveiled plans to spend 171 trillion won on

May 13, 2021

Samsung, LG to provide paid vaccine leave

   Samsung Electronics and LG Group decided Wednesday to offer paid leave to workers who receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot following health authorities' recommendation. Samsung's decision came one day after its labor union requested paid time off for COVID-19 vaccinations. Employees who take a day off to get vaccinated will be paid for that day. If an employee shows signs of side effects after the shot, the company will then grant paid leave for two more days. The union had demande

May 12, 2021

6 out of 10 people in S. Korea worried about side effects of COVID-19 vaccines

More than 6 out of 10 South Koreans feel unsafe taking the COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in the country, compared with fewer than 3 in 10 in the UK, a global survey has found. According to the comparative study conducted by Cigna, an international health care and insurance company, some 64 percent of 1,031 people surveyed in Korea answered that they were worried about the side effects of the jabs available in the country. This was slightly higher than the global average of 62 percent.

May 12, 2021

Samsung’s Bespoke appliances make global debut

Samsung Electronics will start rolling out Bespoke home appliances in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asian countries, aiming to duplicate the success of the colorful and customizable brand overseas. The South Korean tech giant unveiled flagship packages of its Bespoke refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, clothes care systems and wireless vacuum cleaners, differently created for each market, considering specific needs of customers in each region. Bespoke comes in over 20 orig

May 12, 2021

Samsung unveils first CXL-based DRAM, sets new standard

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday unveiled the industry’s first DRAM module which supports the new Compute Express Link (CXL) interconnect standard, a new technology that can enhance the performance of data centers or cloud servers. Samsung has integrated its double data rate 5 (DDR5) technology with the CXL-based module, enabling server systems to significantly scale memory capacity and bandwidth. The CXL is a new interface that can efficiently connect different types of devices that use a

May 11, 2021

[Herald Interview] From textile to advanced biochemicals, Ventex expands, evolves

Founded in 1999 as a textile company in South Korea, Ventex took a risk and ventured into uncharted territory, and fortunately, that paid off.　 The company, which used to produce chemical materials for functional textile products, now makes antibacterial biochemical materials with a much wider range of applications, including hand sanitizer, cosmetics, textbooks, paints and sanitization and deodorization solutions. Behind the dramatic transformation was sustained investment in research and de

May 11, 2021

Small but mighty, Ventex bets future on nano-materials

Ventex started off in 1999 as a tiny textile developer. Through a relentless search for new materials using nanotechnology, the Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province-based company is now building its global presence as a biochemical company. According to founder and CEO Go Gyeong-chan, the company is on course to achieve 34.8 billion won ($31.2 million) in sales this year, which is expected to more than double to 73.5 billion won next year. Driving the growth are disinfection and sanitization produc

May 11, 2021