GlaxoSmithKline Korea Ltd. said Wednesday that Korea’s drug agency has extended approval for its hot-selling pneumonia vaccine to be used in babies born premature at 27 to 28 weeks and children up to 5 years old.The expanded approval makes Synflorix the first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine here for premature babies, the local unit of the U.K.-based corporation said. The vaccine was first approved by the Korea Food & Drug Administration in 2010 for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease

Industry Feb. 1, 2012

Baesangmyun Brewery Co. plans to set up a brewery for Korean rice wine, or makgeolli, in the U.S. as part of its efforts to expand overseas, the drinks maker said Sunday.The company said it has recently clinched a deal with an entrepreneur based in Chicago to build the facility there and begin producing 50,000 bottles of the traditional Korean beverage a month as early as July. It did not provide information on the value of the contract. Company officials said they are taking steps to obtain app

Industry Jan. 30, 2012

LS Industrial Systems Co. aims to more than triple its sales and increase its profit six-fold by 2015 through sweeping structural reforms and growth in strategic areas such as smart grids and car batteries.Korea’s largest maker of electrical components on Sunday unveiled its ambitious 2015 vision, which entails goals of reaching 4.5 trillion won ($4 billion) in sales and 700 billion won in operating profit. The targets reflect a roughly 320 percent rise in sales and a 630 percent surge in profit

Industry Jan. 30, 2012

With a surging number of Chinese tourists here, their shopping list are becoming more diverse to include sanitary napkins and rubber kitchen gloves, industry officials said Thursday.China has been boasting of their growing appetite for air travel, luxury goods and other high-end products as the middle class expands rapidly in the world’s second-largest economy.A typical shopping list for a Chinese visitor to Korea would include designer-brand bags, cosmetics, jewelry and clothes. During Asia’s b

Industry Jan. 26, 2012

Geislinger GmbH, Austria’s leading engine parts maker, will set up a manufacturing base in Busan to facilitate supplies to local shipbuilders, city officials said Wednesday.The Salzburg-based firm clinched an agreement with the Busan government to build a plant at the southern port city’s industrial complex and hire more than 100 workers by injecting $10 million, officials said. They did not give details on the time frame. The deal marks the largest project involving an international company sin

Industry Jan. 25, 2012

Medipost, a Korean biotech startup, is seeking to export its stem-cell based arthritis medicine Cartistem to other countries in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, company officials said Wednesday.Cartistem is the world’s first approved allogeneic stem cell drug. It is designed to regenerate knee cartilage using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. The Korea Food & Drug Administration gave approval for commercial sales of the new product last week. Dong-A Pharmaceutical, the count

Industry Jan. 25, 2012

The number of Koreans using low-cost airlines surpassed 10 million for the first time last year as more people take advantage of affordable air travel at home and abroad, data showed Friday.The figure reflects a 32.5 percent on-year surge, according to the Transport Ministry. Combined market share of the country’s five budget carriers ― Jeju Air, Air Busan, Jin Air, Eastar Jet and T’way Air ― jumped to 16.5 percent, up 3.3 percent points.In stark contrast, the number of air travelers rose merely

Industry Jan. 20, 2012

A consortium led by Korea East-West Power Co. plans to set up a coal-fired power station in Indonesia, the state-run company said Thursday.The consortium, including Perusahaan Listrik Negara and Adaro Energy, beat two other groups to be picked as the preferred bidder for the $400 million project, the EWP said. PLN is Indonesia’s largest power supplier and Adaro is the country’s No. 2 coal producer.Once signed, the deal will see the consortium build a 200-megawatt thermal plant in South Kalimanta

Industry Jan. 19, 2012

SK Engineering & Construction Co. said Thursday it plans to set up two additional coal-fired units at its power plant complex here to help secure electricity supplies. The Korean builder has secured a deal with Korea South-Eastern Power, a state-run utility, to add two units to its existing plant in Goseong, South Gyeongsang Province, by 2019. The 3 trillion won ($2.64 billion) project will boost the complex’s total production capacity by 2,000 megawatts from the current 3,240 megawatts, SK said

Industry Jan. 19, 2012

Daewoo International Corp. on Wednesday posted record revenue and a more than seven-fold surge in net profit for last year, prompted by robust overseas business and increased sales channels linked with its top stakeholder POSCO.Sales soared 20 percent on-year to nearly 18.8 trillion won ($16.5 billion) in 2011, according to a regulatory filing. Operating profit more than quintupled to 238.8 billion won, while net income topped 160 billion won.The upbeat results drove up Daewoo shares by 3.13 per

Industry Jan. 18, 2012