South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety aims to become the first regulatory body recognized by the World Health Organization to hold globally recognized authority for granting domestic permits of new drugs by December, officials said Thursday. Introduced earlier this year, the WHO-Listed Authority, or WLA, is the global organization’s initiative to certify a regulatory body as a globally recognized authority to replace the procurement-oriented concept of stringent regulatory

Technology July 28, 2022

The highly anticipated launch of Danuri, South Korea’s first lunar mission, has been postponed at least two days, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday. Danuri’s launch, which was planned to take place on Aug. 2 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon rocket, has been delayed after SpaceX found that it needed to carry out additional checkups on the space vehicle before the launch. The ministry said SpaceX is currently in the process of obt

Technology July 28, 2022

SK hynix on Wednesday reported a record high quarterly sales of 13.81 trillion won ($10.6 billion) from the April to June period, but said it would review next year’s investment plans, citing the global economic uncertainties and weakening market demand. The world’s second-largest memory chipmaker also saw its operating profit increased by 47 percent from the previous quarter to 4.19 trillion won. “Although the prices of DRAM products decreased in the second quarter, the pric

Industry July 27, 2022

Global health technology giant Philips said Tuesday that it would open up the new era of self-healthcare in Asia through helping consumers achieve their best health conditions with the firm’s lineup of personal healthcare products. “This approach is especially relevant in Asia, where a growing population and a greater emphasis on health and well-being are re-shaping people‘s health priorities,” said Deeptha Khanna, executive vice president at Philips Personal Health, in

Technology July 26, 2022

With LG Energy Solution’s stock lock-up period ending this week, market eyes are on institutional investors‘ movement, as massive sales of shares may impact a market that remains sluggish with low trading volume. According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, the lock-up period for LG Energy Solutions shares owned by institutional investors -- 9,960,365 shares (4.26 percent of all shares) since the battery company was listed on January 27 -- wi

Market July 25, 2022

Dunamu, the operator of one of South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges, has teamed up with the international humanitarian medical non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders to build a map on its metaverse platform to help the global medical initiative, officials said Monday. Dunamu and Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, signed a memorandum to build a partnership on contributions in accordance with the environmental, social and governance movement i

Technology July 25, 2022

Matica Biotechnology, local firm Cha Biotech’s US subsidiary, has set out a goal of posting 1 trillion won ($761 million) in annual sales to become a global top five contract development and manufacturing organization business in cell and gene therapy by 2030, the company said Thursday. “The global cell and gene therapy CDMO market is expected to reach 25 trillion won by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate of over 20 percent,” said Song Yun-jeong, CEO of Matica Biotechnol

Technology July 21, 2022

SK Inc., the investment arm of SK Group, on Thursday, said it has decided to give interim dividends for the fifth year in a row, showing its continued commitment to its shareholders. According to SK Inc., the board of directors agreed to pay interim dividends of 1,500 won ($1) per share, the same amount as the last year. The total amount of the interim dividends payout is estimated at 85 billion won. The company said it has steadily increased the annual dividend payment amount from 208.7 bil

Market July 21, 2022

Ahead of the global unveiling event for Samsung Electronics’ newest mobile lineup, the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, next month, the company’s mobile business chief said Thursday that its foldable series is having its moment with shipments of foldables nearing the 10 million mark. “Last year, we saw almost 10 million foldable smartphones shipped worldwide. That’s an industry increase of more than 300 percent from 2020, and I predict this fast-paced growth will continue,”

Technology July 21, 2022

LG Chem is exporting its first bio-balanced phenol and acetone products to Germany, the company said Thursday. According to LG Chem, the exports that were made from biomaterials such as waste vegetable oil are eco-friendly products certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification PLUS. The total amounts of exported phenol and acetone are 4,000 tons and 1,200 tons, respectively, to mark the largest single-export volume that have been certified by the ISCC PLUS. The produ

Industry July 21, 2022

Amid pressure building on South Korea to join a US-led chip alliance that strategically isolates China from the global semiconductor supply chain, Science Minister Lee Jong-ho on Wednesday said in rare remarks that the government should be careful in making such a decision, citing its impact on other industries. “I have talked to business executives who have been to China. It’s difficult to talk about the details, as it is an ongoing matter, but we have to make a decision that will

Technology July 20, 2022

SK Bioscience has renewed a contract manufacturing organization deal with US biotech Novavax to produce COVID-19 vaccines targeted at preventing the spread of highly contagious variants such as BA.5, officials said Tuesday. The two firms had signed a CMO deal to produce Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine last year. According to the South Korean company, the renewal will allow the transfer of Novavax’s technology to SK Bioscience, which will then manufacture Novavax’s undiluted COVI

Technology July 19, 2022

While the entire country was still relishing the launch of South Korea’s first domestically developed rocket last month, unionized workers and engineers at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute came out with a rather surprising statement. “The satisfaction and joy of the second launch are passing by as we despair in the unimproved reality,” a statement by the union read. Citing government data, the union pointed out that the annual salary of the national space agency&rsquo

Technology July 18, 2022

HanAll Biopharma’s antibody therapy candidate for myasthenia gravis -- HL161, also known as batoclimab, a subcutaneous anti-FcRn antibody designed to treat autoimmune diseases -- has entered phase 3 clinical trials in the United States, the South Korean biotech said Sunday. Myasthenia gravis, or MG, is a rare autoimmune disease that happens when the nerve impulses are not properly transmitted to the muscles, eventually leading to weakness in the skeletal muscles. According to a research

Technology July 17, 2022

Over half of Korean exporters believed that their contracts with customers could be scrapped due to the lack of preparedness for environment, social and governance management, a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed Sunday. According to the KCCI’s survey, 52.5 percent of the 300 participating companies said they felt that there is a high chance for their contractors to back out from deals with inadequate ESG management levels in their supply chains. Aske

Industry July 17, 2022