Describing Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of the mammoth Samsung Group, as a “startup,” Executive Vice President John Rim is confident that the company’s competitive edge will bring Korea’s footprint forward in the biologics drugs field. Armed with 34 years of experience working at multiple global pharmaceutical companies, Rim joined Samsung Biologics in September 2018. “Korea has to find technology and competitive advantage where it can survive for the long

Industry Jan. 31, 2020

Curiosity about the world has fanned many cultural byproducts. The Multiculture Museum in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, is one such example. Tucked inside the four-story museum is director Kim Yoon-tae’s private collection of cultural objects from 40 countries, including the US, Canada, Russia, China, Mongolia, India, Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, Kenya, Italy, France, Brazil and Peru. Miniature replicas of the Tower of Pisa or a Dutch windmill and Venetian gondolas are only part of the vast coll

Culture Jan. 31, 2020

LG Electronics posted a record revenue of 62.3 trillion won in 2019, as the home appliances division spurt past the 20 trillion won milestone, according to its earnings report Thursday. In the fourth quarter alone, the company notched 16.6 trillion won in revenue and 101.9 billion won operating profit, up 1.8 percent and 34.5 percent on-year, respectively. At the same time, the company suffered quarterly net loss of 87.8 percent due to subsidiary LG Display’s flat performance, turning

Industry Jan. 30, 2020

Korea Consumer Agency officials attend a press briefing on their review of the quality of UHD TVs at the government complex in Sejong on Thursday.  Their results showed LG’s organic light-emitting diode TV had better viewing angle and high-definition resolution than Samsung’s quantum-dot light-emitting diode TV. Both products met international standards of contrast modulation, the KCA said. (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

Industry Jan. 30, 2020

Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Thursday its high blood pressure treatments notched 14 percent revenue growth in 2019, raking in 153 billion won ($129 million) and dominating the market in South Korea. The company said that its 15 types of combination molecules for treating hypertension, all independently developed, accounted for 8.3 percent of the entire Korean high blood pressure treatment market last year which amounted to 1.8 trillion won.  These treatments include the three Amozaltan drug

Industry Jan. 30, 2020

In a study of early cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a team of Chinese scientists discussed potential treatments for the rapidly spreading illness. In the latest issue of the Lancet medical journal, the scientists looked at key features of the virus and its effects in the first 41 confirmed patients. As the 2019-nCoV is an emerging virus, there is no vaccine or clear treatment specifically targeted to cure it. However, as all 41 patients developed pneumonia, they were all given anti

Business Jan. 28, 2020

Yesco Holdings CEO Koo Bon-hyuk, 42, voluntarily stepped down from his role 10 days after his appointment, citing a lack of experience, the company announced Wednesday.Koo is the third-generation scion of the Koo-family who founded and own LS Group, the overarching business above Yesco Holdings, the holding entity of city gas retailers.His promotion from the executive vice president of LS-Nikko Copper to the CEO position at Yesco Holdings had made headlines last year as what many perceived as a

Industry Jan. 23, 2020

Samsung Biologics said Wednesday its operating profit in 2019 rose 65 percent on-year, on the back of increased revenue. The company recorded 701.6 billion won ($602 million) revenue with operating profit of 92 billion won operating profit, up 31 percent and 65 percent on-year, respectively.The growth was credited to the enhanced operation rate of its three plants.Its net profit recorded 203 billion won, a 21 billion won, or -9.5 percent, fall on-year. Samsung Biologics explained this reflects t

Industry Jan. 22, 2020

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Wednesday it has signed a deal worth $50 million to supply Mexico’s Moksha8 with gastric acid blocker fexuprazan. Given the local authorities’ approval, Moksha8 aims to launch fexuprazan in the second half of 2022. The expansion of Daewoong’s fexuprazan to overseas markets is in direct competition with CJ HealthCare’s tegoprazan-based K-CAB. Both fexuprazan and tegoprazan are potassium-competitive acid blockers, an advanced treatment compared

Industry Jan. 22, 2020

A3: Still Alive’s launch in Korea in March will be developer Netmarble’s latest attempt at challenging the game market, CEO Kwon Young-sig said at a press event Wednesday.Since becoming the majority stakeholder of home appliance subscription firm Woongjin Coway in December, Netmarble has been receiving investor feedback that it must show better performance on its core business area of games. “A3: Still Alive is Netmarble’s fresh try at the game market. It is a completely

Industry Jan. 22, 2020

Posco Chemical signed with LG Chem to supply the latter with anode for electric vehicle batteries through end-2022, the companies said Tuesday. The deal is worth 1.8 trillion won ($1.54 billion).An anode is a core material that determines the capacity and output of a battery.  The anode Posco Chemical will provide LG Chem is high-nickel NCM, short for nickel, cobalt and managnese. The greater percentage nickel accounts for in an anode, the better output the battery has, making it better sui

Industry Jan. 21, 2020

Celltrion announced Tuesday that it would build its first plant in Wuhan, China, saying it would be the country’s biggest biologics plant. Celltrion Group said it had the full support of the Hubei provincial government in setting up the plant, which would be able to manufacture 120,000 liters of biologic drugs. China’s largest current facility can produce 5,000 liters. The city in central China has a geographical advantage in shipping its products to all four corners of the country.

Technology Jan. 21, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 38th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 came to a close Thursday, with small and big deals still covered under wraps.Being the biggest annual gathering of pharmaceuticals companies presenting each of their pipelines’ research progress, JP Morgan conference in San Francisco has often concluded in mega deals that drew eyes. In 2015, Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical was invited to the conference, where it presented its major pipelines and ended up licensing out to big

Industry Jan. 19, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO -- Korean central nervous system drug developer SK Biopharmaceuticals’ CEO Cho Jeong-woo vowed to acquire a novel drug approval every two years, speaking to reporters during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 in San Francisco on Wednesday. SK Biopharmaceuticals has so far received two approvals from US Food and Drug Administration; one for sleep disorder treatment Sunosi (solriamfetol), licensed out to Jazz Pharmaceutical and the other for partial onset epilepsy tr

Industry Jan. 19, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO – South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion is likely to be consolidated with two of its subsidiaries -- Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm -- by as early as 2021, if the shareholders approve, a top executive said WednesdaySpeaking at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 in San Francisco, Chairman Seo Jung-jin also did not rule out the consolidation of two other subsidiaries -- Celltrion Skincure and Celltrion Entertainment. Although Seo has announced his retire

Industry Jan. 16, 2020