Singapore-based antibody discovery firm Hummingbird Bioscience is drawing attention from South Korean investors for its computational systems biology-driven drug candidate discovery technology. “We have secured more than $65 million in investments for our company (and) are seeing increasing interest from South Korea-based venture and asset firms,” Hummingbird Bioscience CEO Piers Ingram said in an email interview with The Korea Herald. The growing list of South Korean investors in

Industry Aug. 23, 2020

Nano-x, a medical imaging company in which SK Telecom is the second-biggest shareholder, has made an initial public offering on the US’ Nasdaq, SKT said Sunday. SKT preemptively invested a total of $23 million in Nano-x, first in June 2019 and second in June 2020, securing over 2.6 million shares in the company. As the second-biggest stakeholder to Nano-x after the company’s founders, SKT said it is actively participating in the management and global business expansion of Nano-x.

Industry Aug. 23, 2020

Researchers from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have developed a big data and artificial intelligence-powered software called Hi-COVIDNet to monitor incoming COVID-19 cases from overseas. KAIST said Wednesday that the Hi-COVIDNet predicts the volume of COVID-19 patients’ influx two weeks in advance, based on big data information of foreign nations’ confirmed patient numbers and deaths, the daily number of flights from those nations to Korea and the number of pass

Industry Aug. 19, 2020

Celltrion and Genexine stocks were upbeat Wednesday, on the back of Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s announcement the day before that Korean scientists have succeeded in deriving meaningful results from COVID-19 treatment and vaccine candidates’ animal tests. Celltrion shares started 1.48 percent higher than the previous day at 308,500 won ($260) while Genexine’s started 4.99 percent higher at 126,200 won. KRIBB said Tuesday that in primates modele

Industry Aug. 19, 2020

GC LabCell, a cell therapy specialist, said Tuesday that it has confirmed Natural Killer cells’ therapeutic effects against the SARS CoV-2 virus. NK cell therapy is an innovative treatment. There are no commercialization-approved NK cell therapies worldwide as of yet, meaning it is uncertain how long the research for NK cell therapy for COVID-19 could take. GCLC’s research is in the laboratory stage and will need to go through preclinical animal trials and three stages of human tr

Industry Aug. 18, 2020

Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Tuesday that it will present its LAPSTriple Agonist as a treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease at the International Liver Congress hosted by the European Association for the Study of the Liver. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s EASL ILC is to be held online Aug. 27-29. According to Hanmi, a 12-week repetitive administration of LAPSTriple Agonist in 66 obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, also known as NASH, has shown tha

Industry Aug. 18, 2020

Celltrion said Friday that it will begin clinical phase 1 trials of its Prolia biosimilar CT-P41 in September. The study aims to test CT-P41’s safety in healthy participants and is anticipated to wrap up in the first half of 2021. Celltrion said it plans to finish clinical phase 3 trials by February 2025 when Prolia’s patent in the US will expire. CT-P41, as a biosimilar, gets to bypass clinical phase 2 trials given that it proves its similarity to the original drug. Proli

Industry Aug. 14, 2020

Despite forecasts that there will be an unprecedented boost in global demand for the flu vaccine this year, Sanofi Pasteur Korea said Friday it will continue to provide free inoculations for the homeless. “Due to COVID-19 this year, we have seen an unprecedented increase in influenza vaccine demand as health authorities seek to prevent what is preventable and keep people who are at risk of influenza safe,” a company official said. Sanofi Pasteur anticipates around a 20 percent i

Industry Aug. 14, 2020

ULikeKorea, a preventive health care company for livestock, said Friday that it has expanded its bio-capsule services to sheep in Mongolia. ULikeKorea’s LiveCare bio-capsule has passed proof of concept at sheep farms in Erdene Soum, Mongolia, some 50 kilometers east of the capital Ulaanbaatar using SK TNS’ 6-kilometer long-range Lora network and one other foreign partner’s collaboration. Mongolia has a vast number of sheep, with the country’s livestock population esti

Industry Aug. 14, 2020

SK Bioscience will contract develop and manufacture American biotechnology firm Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, the company said Thursday. Through a trilateral agreement, SK Bioscience, Novavax and Korea’s Ministry of Healthcare will collaborate to quickly and stably produce the vaccine; support equitable global distribution; and improve public healthcare in Korea through efforts to secure supply. SK Bioscience, a vaccine-specialized spin-off of SK Chemical, recently rose in global r

Industry Aug. 14, 2020

Demand for flu vaccines is anticipated to more than double this year on the back of COVID-19 pandemic, according to industry sources. As symptoms of influenza infection closely resemble that of the COVID-19 pandemic -- high fever and respiratory system inflammation -- by common sense the world anticipates there will be more demand for precautions against flu. “If in the past some 20 million people took flu repelling shots here in South Korea, this year we expect the number to go up to 3

Industry Aug. 13, 2020

As nations battle over access to a potential COVID-19 vaccine, Korea is under pressure to secure its share. But as some nations cut corners, the government says it won’t sacrifice safety in its quest for a solution. Currently, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has approved two clinical phase 1 2/a trials of COVID-19 vaccines in the country. One is American company Inovio’s INO-4800 being tested here by the International Vaccine Institute and the other is Genexine’s GX-19. T

Industry Aug. 12, 2020

Samsung Biologics on Tuesday announced its plans to invest 1.74 trillion won ($1.46 billion) and hire 1,800 new employees for a massive fourth plant in Songdo, Incheon, by 2023. 　“At 256,000 liters output in a single generation, the new plant will renew our record as the biggest single biologics generator,” said CEO Kim Tae-han. 　“After construction, Samsung Biologics will have a combined 620,000-liter output at its Songdo complex 1, accounting for 30 percent of the world&rsq

Industry Aug. 11, 2020

Medytox on Monday released a file containing the full text of the US International Trade Commission’s initial determination against Daewoong in a trade dispute between the two South Korean pharmaceutical companies. The document is 274 pages long, and Medytox said it would allow individual readers to make their own judgments about the case. Daewoong said last week that the ITC’s decision was groundless. Medytox and Daewoong are embroiled in a high-profile battle over the former&rsq

Industry Aug. 10, 2020

Even non-sneakerheads are realizing the lucrative nature of sneaker resale these days. O Jee-ye had never been much interested in expensive shoes. Shoes kissed ground-level microbes. They wore out much quicker than other items of clothing. What shoes are for, O thought, was for protection. They were good if breathable, durable, didn’t give her blisters and matched the day’s outfit. It was a shock for O when she learned through a close friend of hers that he easily makes 300,000 w

Industry Aug. 8, 2020