Samsung BioLogics, the contract drug manufacturing arm of Samsung Group, said Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit in South Korea to nullify Switzerland-based Lonza’s patents involving its cell line development technology. The Korean drugmaker said the lawsuit comes as part of efforts to remove hurdles to its expanded business direction -- providing contract-based biologic drug development services to drugmakers in need, on top of producing biologics for clients that place orders.　Lonza’s patent

Industry July 6, 2017

South Korean game company NCSoft has received the green light from local regulators to introduce an in-game item trading system to its recently-launched hit mobile role-playing game “Lineage M,” boosting its profitability outlook.Korea’s Game Rating and Administration Committee on Wednesday granted NCSoft official approval to introduce a new version of the game with an in-game item trading system.With the change, the Seoul-based game firm will now offer “Lineage M” in two versions -- the “Lineag

Technology July 6, 2017

South Korea’s Celltrion and Samsung Bioepis are strengthening their foothold in the fast-forming market of biosimilars — cheaper, near-replicas of live cell-based biologic drugs whose patents have expired.　The two Songdo-based drugmakers have emerged as forerunners in the race for the development and commercialization of biosimilars, set to form a lucrative industry as the patents to some of the world’s most profitable biologic medications developed by big pharma expire.Celltrion inched closer t

Industry July 5, 2017

Samsung BioLogics, the contract drug manufacturing arm of South Korea’s Samsung Group, announced Tuesday that it has signed a long-term manufacturing deal valued at $55.5 million with Indian pharmaceutical giant Sun Pharma.　The two companies sealed the partnership during a ceremony at the Samsung BioLogics headquarters in Incheon on Tuesday.Under the deal, Samsung BioLogics will manufacture Sun Pharma’s investigational drug tildrakizumab, an IL-23p19 inhibitor currently under review by US and Eu

Industry July 4, 2017

South Korean mobile game publisher Gamevil and its subsidiary Com2uS said Tuesday that they have established joint venture companies in Europe and Southeast Asia to better buttress their growth in the region.　The two companies have formed Gamevil Com2uS Europe in Germany and Gamevil Com2uS Southeast Asia in Singapore by transforming Gamevil’s existing offices in the region into jointly invested and operated ventures.　According to a Gamevil representative, the move is aimed at improving the two c

Technology July 4, 2017

The new mobile age has disrupted the way people consume media, as millennials turn to laptops and mobile devices to stream video content and browse posts on platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.　This technological transition has posed new challenges to traditional TV broadcasters while making way for the rise of new players specializing in mobile-friendly content targeting the young, mobile-savvy generation.　And these so-called “mobile broadcasters” are increasingly gaining traction in S

Technology July 3, 2017

South Korea will host an event to celebrate the global launch of “Starcraft: Remastered” this month, the game’s developer Blizzard Entertainment said Monday.　The event will take place at Gwangalli Beach in the coastal city of Busan on July 30, two weeks before the official release of the new game designed as a high-definition remake of the PC strategy game “Starcraft.” (Blizzard Korea)Some key highlights of the upcoming event include the first-ever live e-sports match of “Starcraft: Remastered”

Technology July 3, 2017

　The People’s Party’s internal investigation has questioned Ahn Cheol-soo, the party’s founder and former presidential candidate over a fabricated accusation against President Moon Jae-in’s son during the May election, the party said Sunday. 　“The team has interviewed former party chairman Ahn in person for about 50 minutes at a venue in Seoul this afternoon,” Rep. Kim Kwan-young, who leads the party’s investigation team, said.　“We will announce our findings, including the results of Ahn’s inter

Latest News July 2, 2017

SAN DIEGO -- What if we could simply take a protein-control pill to get in sync with our circadian rhythm, curing the dreaded symptoms of jet lag once and for all? How about reversing the natural aging process -- literally becoming younger -- via genetic modification processes?　These are just some scenarios that could one day become a reality through ongoing research at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies in San Diego, California, one of the key players underpinning the city’s booming biote

Industry June 25, 2017

A group of North Korean taekwondo officials and athletes arrived in South Korea on Friday for soon-to-be historic performances at the world championships.Amid much fanfare at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, the International Taekwondo Federation delegation of 36, led by its president Ri Yong-son, arrived south of the tense border via Beijing. Of those 36, 32 are North Koreans. Their flight was delayed by more than an hour due to inclement weather. Officials and athletes of the North Korea-

Foreign Affairs June 23, 2017

The lone North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee on Friday kept mum on potential co-hosting of next year's Winter Olympics with South Korea.Chang Ung arrived in South Korea to attend the World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo Championships starting Saturday in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul. Chang traveled with officials and athletes from the North-led International Taekwondo Federation. The ITF practitioners will have a performance during the WTF event's opening cere

Foreign Affairs June 23, 2017

SAN DIEGO, California -- Virtual reality headsets, a digitized traditional painting and miniature building replicas -- these are not things you would normally expect to see at a biotechnology and pharma industry event.　Yet, they are all offerings available at the Samsung BioLogics booth at the 2017 Bio International Convention in San Diego, where the Samsung-owned contract drug manufacturer is working to appeal to its target clientele of global biopharmaceutical companies.Leveraging its roots in

Industry June 23, 2017

SAN DIEGO — The recent explosion in data generation combined with fast-improving analytic technologies are beginning to revolutionize the field of medicine and health care, bringing closer the era of precision medicine.　Precision medicine, also referred to as personalized or individualized medicine, is “an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle for each person,” according to the US National Institu

Technology June 22, 2017

SAN DIEGO -- Samsung BioLogics, the contract drug manufacturing arm of South Korea’s Samsung Group, is planning to provide development support services to small-sized pharmaceutical firms, as it looks to expand the scope of its business.Samsung BioLogics CEO Kim Tae-han said Tuesday local time that the company would “extend its business scope into the field of (drug) development services” to widen its portfolio beyond producing biologic drugs on behalf of clients.“Now that we’ve secured global c

Industry June 21, 2017

SAN DIEGO — The 2017 Bio International Convention officially kicked off in San Diego, California, on Monday, bringing together thousands of biotech professionals from around the world to exchange knowledge and engage in dialogue over new industry trends and issues.In its 24th year, the four-day conference hosted annually by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization is considered one of the world’s biggest biotech and pharmaceutical industry events. This year’s edition, themed “Breakthrough,” is

Industry June 20, 2017