Celltrion, South Korea’s leading biosimilar manufacturer, announced Monday that it has acquired rights to a total of 11 generic chemical drugs in the US, the world’s biggest pharmaceutical market.The company has since early 2019 been pushing to expand its business portfolio to cover not only copies of patent-expired biologics drugs, but also generic copies of chemical drugs. Its subsidiary, Celltrion USA, has bought the rights for nine other generic copy drugs, other than the existin

Industry Dec. 16, 2019

Metformin, a drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes, was once heralded as a first-in-class treatment for which there was no substitute. Now it is sparking international concerns over a contaminant that may cause cancer.The debate has taken off in South Korea as well, and on Friday the Korean Diabetes Association urged the nation’s drug safety authority to test every drug containing metformin. The potentially carcinogenic impurity, called N-nitrosodimethylamine or NDMA, had previously been dete

Industry Dec. 15, 2019

Korean biologics drug companies, including major players Celltrion and Samsung BioLogics, agreed Friday to localize materials for bio drug production. Incheon Metropolitan City hosted the event attended by some 110 personnel from the biologics industry. Incheon houses Korean biologics production facilities. Korea’s 1.69 trillion won ($1.4 billion) bio industry output in 2017 has climbed annually, and is anticipated to rake in well over 2 trillion won. However, 98 percent of the materials u

Industry Dec. 13, 2019

Germany’s Delivery Hero, the operator of food delivery app Yogiyo here, is set to acquire its main Korean competitor Baedal Minjok, in the largest merger and acquisition deal of an internet startup in the country. Woowa Brothers, which runs the Baedal Mijok app, announced Friday that Delivery Hero will become its majority stakeholder with a stake of 87 percent, while setting the value of the firm at $4 billion. Delivery Hero is listed on the Frankfurt bourse and has been expanding its pres

Industry Dec. 13, 2019

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Thursday reiterated its advisory against the use of e-cigarettes, citing recent evidence of carcinogenic ingredients. After reviewing 137 liquid e-cigarettes, authorities concluded that some of the products contained flavorings that cause cancer. Several contained vitamin E acetate, which impairs lung functioning when inhaled.  None of the products, however, contained THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, which also has harmful effects. THC was not

Industry Dec. 12, 2019

Global beauty and health care company SD Biotechnologies is seeking to appeal to global millennial consumers with newly launched SNP mini and SNP prep skincare products, the company said Thursday. SNP mini is a pouch-type skincare set, comprising six items -- cleansing foam, toner, facial essence, serum, eye and facial nourishing cream and tone-up cream. SNP prep is a large-size product line copious enough to apply for both the face and body. The series’ Peptaronic set, a combination of pe

Industry Dec. 12, 2019

Telecom firm KT said Thursday it will provide an optimal emergency rescue protocol using 5G and artificial intelligence technology by collaborating with the National Fire Agency and Severance Hospital. The triumvirate is jointly devising a new smart emergency response service that embeds 5G network for medical emergencies from the 119 emergency call reception to ambulance transportation and hospital emergency room care. As the first step, KT and the NFA on Thursday launched a 5G-based 119 video

Industry Dec. 12, 2019

Prosecutorial reform was the hottest trending topic on Twitter in Korea this year, according to data released by the social media platform on Tuesday. It was the most mentioned social keyword on Twitter in Korea between Jan. 1 and Nov. 15. The “boycott Japan” movement followed in second place with over 1.3 million mentions in the cited period.Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who resigned after submitting his proposal for prosecutorial reform, was the most-mentioned person of the year

Industry Dec. 10, 2019

Samyang Biopharm USA has licensed in Belgium’s Talix Therapeutics’ first-in-class immuno-oncology compound for global rights, the companies said Tuesday. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.Under the agreement, Samyang Biopharmaceuticals’ subsidiary will gain the research rights, as well as exclusive options to worldwide rights for development, manufacturing and commercialization of Talix’s anti-CD96 antibody.The anti-CD96 antibody is a first-in-class co

Industry Dec. 10, 2019

Amid the recent controversy over unfair contracts of young professional esports players in South Korea, the Fair Trade Commission on Monday pledged to comb through the relevant regulations and examine all contracts.Currently, the watchdog is undertaking preliminary inspections of Korea e-Sports Association’s standard contract and a full-fledged review of major esports teams will begin as soon as possible, a FTC official confirmed to The Korea Herald.Any unfair clauses found during the inve

Industry Dec. 9, 2019

Telecom KT’s disease control platform recently launched in Kenya, widening reach in the African continent.KT’s Global Epidemic Prevention Platform will be locally serviced by the nation’s biggest telecom provider Safaricom, and will be called Safari Smart, meaning “smart travel” in Swahili. KT underlined the significance of this collaboration, saying this is the first time for a Korean company to tap Kenya’s national quarantine service. Kenya is a critical hub

Industry Dec. 8, 2019

Hanwha Systems announced Sunday that its $25 million investment in US-based air taxi startup Overair has got final approval from authorities.The two companies plan to jointly develop personalized aerial vehicles following the US Committee on Foreign Investment’s greenlight. Overair, previously K4 Aeronautics, is a spinoff of Karem Aircraft -- which manufactures aerial vehicles capable of vertical takeoff and landing. It is one of the core partners of the Uber Elevate project for commercial

Industry Dec. 8, 2019

Cha University’s Region-Specific Resource Advancement Center in Northeast Region of Gyeonggi-do (GRRC) recently held a symposium to present cutting-edge technology on natural resources’ separation and refinement using Prep-HPLC technology, it said Thursday. GRRC is a regional platform to share the latest expert scientific opinions on participating corporations’ local natural resources-based novel drug development.  The event held on Sept. 27 marked the sharing of technolog

Industry Dec. 5, 2019

Ballantine’s was the most consumed Scotch whiskey in Korea in the last three years with a market share of 28 percent, its distributor Pernod Ricard Korea said Thursday. “Data shows the international Scotch whiskey market in Korea grew by an average 7 percent every year since 2017,” said Florent Leroi, chief of Pernod Ricard Korea’s marketing division. “During this period, Ballantine’s revenue grew by an annual average of 9.2 percent,” Leroi said, un

Industry Dec. 5, 2019

A new contract manufacturing deal bagged by Samsung BioLogics, potentially worth 86 billion won ($72 million), has boosted its target stock price. SK Securities on Wednesday adjusted its target price for Samsung BioLogics shares to 470,000 won, from the previous 400,000 won. “Samsung BioLogics’ 2020 unconsolidated operating profit is anticipated to increase 684.5 percent on-year to 234 billion won,” said analyst Lee Dal-mi, along with forecasting that its 2019 operating profit

Industry Dec. 4, 2019