The frameworks for Haeundae LCT The Sharp, a major urban development project involving two 85-story residential towers, and a 101-story tower overlooking Busan’s Haeundae Beach, have been completed, Posco Engineering & Construction said Monday. This marked the end to a tortuous 1,272 days since the buildings’ groundbreaking in October 2013. Construction for LCT sailed through foul winds between 2015 and 2017 due to accusations of illicit deals involving government-business collusion during impea

Industry March 25, 2019

SONGDO -- Samsung Biologics President and CEO Kim Tae-han on Friday reiterated the legality of the firm’s accounting practices at an annual shareholders meeting held in Songdo, Gyeonggi Province.“We deeply regret the supervision results of the Financial Services Commission. We believe our accounting was done within all legal boundaries. We apologize for any concerns the investigations have caused our shareholders,” Kim said.“Samsung Biologics will make its best efforts to prevent this issue from

Industry March 22, 2019

History is closer to people’s lives than in the musty pages of old books. In the ultra-modern metropolis of Seoul, there is a place where a step into the lower ground of a high-rise office building can pull one into the city’s past, dating back to the 16th century. It is Gongpyeong Historic Site Museum, a 3,817-square-meter space in the underground floor of Centropolis office building in Gongpyeong-dong, central Seoul -- the biggest historic site unearthed in Seoul to date.  (Park Hyun-koo/The K

Culture March 21, 2019

SK Biopharmaceuticals announced on Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Sunosi, a novel drug that aims to improve wakefulness in adult patients with excessive daytime sleepiness.The drug was developed by Irish firm Jazz Pharmaceuticals using solriamfetol, a compound discovered by the South Korean firm. Sunosi can alleviate narcolepsy, the inability to control the sleep-wake cycle, or obstructive sleep apnea, in which people suffer pauses in breathing, disturbing their s

Industry March 21, 2019

진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer1. Human rights body says punishing women for abortion unconstitutional기사요약: 지난 15일 국가인권위원회는 헌법재판소에 "낙태한 여성을 처벌하는 건 여성의 자기결정권 등을 침해하는 것임을 확인한다"는 내용의 의견서를 제출했다. 나아가 인권위는 "민주국가에서 임신을 국가가 강제할 수 없듯이, 임신을 하지 않을 권리도 국가가 보장해야 한다"고 주장했다.아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has delivered its opinion to the Constitutional Court that cr

Podcast March 20, 2019

SillaJen said Wednesday it will utilize 110 billion won ($97.3 million) worth convertible bonds that it plans to issue for testing the efficacy of its breakthrough oncolytic virus Pexa-Vec for various types of cancer, as well as develop another pipeline. The South Korean firm also seeks to establish a new research and development center in the capital region, for which it plans to hire more researchers. (Image captured from SillaJen website)A day earlier, SillaJen made a public disclosure that i

Industry March 20, 2019

The Seoul branch of the Korea Pharmaceutical Distribution Association intends to exert pressure on global pharma firms operating here to cooperate regarding refunds and logistics costs for returning unsold drugs that are still usable elsewhere, news reports said Tuesday.In an informal gathering with the media after a meeting of the organization’s board of directors, Park Ho-young, chairman of the association’s Seoul branch, reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with the refusal of some global dru

Industry March 19, 2019

Korea Game Society on Friday will introduce a functional game that can help patients with diabetes better manage their dietary pattern.An Android diabetes self-management application “Roly Poly 160” is set to be presented at a seminar, to be held at Contents Korea Lab in Jung-gu, Seoul.The game incorporates elements such as quizzes, ranking system and in-game avatars, to existing educational materials. By doing so, the app aims to engage patients with diabetes to familiarize themselves with bene

Industry March 19, 2019

South Korean pharmaceutical company Dong-A ST’s diabetes treatment Suganon will launch in India on April 1. The drug will sell under a localized new name, Valera, which in Latin means “strong.” A change of name is common for drugs when they launch overseas where original names may have already been taken by other legal entities. Suganon, or Valera, is a novel drug developed by Dong-A ST. India is the first overseas nation where the drug will be launched. Valera (Dong-A ST)Dong-A ST had licensed

Industry March 18, 2019

Samsung Bioepis’ breast cancer treatment biosimilar Samfenet, known as Ontruzant outside of Korea, won a patent invalidation suit against the original Roche drug Herceptin (trastuzumab), according to industry sources Monday.Korea’s Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board on Thursday last week accepted Samsung Bioepis’ claim that Roche’s patent for “Protein Purification by Ion-Exchange Chromatography” lacks patentability. The patent had been registered with the IPTAB in 2011 and was to expir

Industry March 18, 2019

Most of the big Korean companies are facing disapproval from foreign pension funds over their financial statements ahead of their imminent shareholders meetings in March, as they have not been audited by an independent panel.On Korea Corporate Governance Service’s online website Voting Information Plaza, of the 89 companies that have posted their agenda for annual shareholders meetings, 56 received opposition from more than one foreign pension fund.  (Yonhap)The State Board of Administration of

Industry March 17, 2019

Four high-ranking officials from SK Chemicals attended an arrest warrant hearing Thursday as part of a reopened investigation into toxic humidifier disinfectants that in 2011 were linked to hundreds of deaths.Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office suspects the company, now known as SK Discovery, concealed the toxicity reports on CMIT and MIT, two chemical ingredients used in the humidifier disinfectants.SK Chemicals manufactured and supplied humidifier disinfectant ingredients to several com

Industry March 14, 2019

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s botulinum toxin treatment Nabota will enter the final phase of clinical trials in China in the second half of this year, the firm said Wednesday. Daewoong said it gained China Food and Drug Administration’s approval for changing the Nabota manufacturing site for phase 3 clinical trials from the firms’s “first factory” to the “second factory,” both of which are located in Hyangnam, Gyeonggi Province. The approval, granted March 6, signals Daewoong’s kicking spur in to Na

Industry March 13, 2019

Nexon has 10 new mobile game releases on its timetable for the first half of 2019, the company announced Tuesday. Korea’s biggest game company is making use of its original intellectual property and popular foreign titles for various genres, ranging from role-playing games to puzzles.Of 14 major events Nexon has in store for the first half of 2019, four are global launches of games already being serviced in Korea. Nexon will introduce “Durango” globally in the first half in countries other than

Industry March 12, 2019

The US-based W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. will supply 20 vascular grafts for South Korean children born with heart malformations who are time-pressed for surgery, Korea’s Ministry of Drug and Safety and Ministry of Welfare said Monday in a joint statement.Gore has agreed to supply the artificial blood vessels at the earliest possible date, which might be a week to 10 days away, the Drug Ministry said. The exact time of their arrival has yet to be determined. Gore, the sole supplier of reliable ar

Industry March 12, 2019