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

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.

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

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

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

SAN FRANCISCO -- Samsung Biologics said Wednesday it will open a contract development (CDO) laboratory in San Francisco Bay Area by April, signaling its first expansion outside South Korea. Speaking on the company’s aggressive global expansion plans, Vice President John Rim, who accompanied CEO Kim Tae-han at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 in San Francisco, said that the CDO lab in the US will place Samsung Biologics closer to potential partners with promising molecules. “T

SAN FRANCISCO -- The key takeaways from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 held in San Francisco this week have been the increased attention to neuroscience and cell and gene therapies among global pharmaceutical companies.Neuroscience was a recurring theme in participating firms’ research. Big pharmas Biogen, Roche, Eli Lilly, Takeda and others put forth their pipelines for Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease for investors to take a lo

“I’m a 12-year-old girl and 158 centimeters tall. All my best friends are at least 160 centimeters in height. My goal is to eventually reach 180 centimeters. Please advise how I can grow taller.” The anonymous writer of the post on web portal Naver speaks for many others -- children and parents alike -- in their quest to stand above others, literally.The average height of Koreans was 170 centimeters for men and 157 centimeters for women in 2017, according to the national statis

SAN FRANCISCO -- Kim Tae-han, the CEO of Samsung Biologics, said Wednesday that he expects to take on contract manufacturing deals for Alzheimer’s disease treatments, and that the company will be ready when the opportunity arises. Kim, speaking to investors at JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 in San Francisco, said Biogen’s Alzheimer’s pipeline aducanumab has proven its efficacy through data. The only hurdle to US Food and Drug Administration approval, Kim said, was the com

Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin (left) and Samsung Biologics CEO Kim Tae-han were locked in a warm embrace in front of reporters at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 on Wednesday at Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Seo and Kim, the heads of Korea’s leading biopharmaceuticals firms, said that despite the aura of competition that is often portrayed, they are actually close friends. Their relationship dates back to the early days when both of them were working at Samsung Elec

SAN FRANCISCO -- It may not be music to the ears of small and medium-sized contract manufacturing organizations, but Samsung Biologics said Tuesday it plans to expand its current business to cover smaller volumes. “We decided to add sCMO to our service for client satisfaction, to keep providing support to our contract development clients who need small batches of drug substance for their subsequent clinical phase one trials,” said Regina Choi-Rivera, head of the sCMO business unit at

San Francisco -- Samsung BioLogics’ newfound focus on small-scale contract development organization services will be the foundation for its plans to draw larger contract manufacturing organization deals, a top executive said Sunday.“The CDO business will bring in 30 percent of CMO clients by 2030 and 50 percent by 2035,” Yang Eun-young, head of Samsung BioLogics’ CDO business team, told reporters a day ahead of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference slated for Monday through

SAN FRANCISCO -- Samsung BioLogics CEO Kim Tae-han and Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin are among the South Korean C-level officials making presentations at the 38th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference being held from Monday through Thursday. Both the executives have been invited to speak on Wednesday at the Grand Ballroom at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, that can accommodate some 800 people.Kim and Seo are joining the likes of global big pharma firms such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Merck, Ro

Park Jun-kyu, country head of Riot Games Korea, passed away Thursday. He was 44. Riot Games Korea said that Park was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2019 and that his condition drastically worsened early this month. Due to his characteristic hardworking nature, Park refused to take leave or make his illness publicly known up until the day of his death, a Riot Games Korea official said.  The industry responded in shock to the news of his passing. Park’s last public appearance had only b

 진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer1. 'Parasite’ wins Korea’s first Golden Globe아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638기사요약: 봉준호 감독 '기생충', 한국 영화 최초로 미국 골든글로브 외국어영화상 수상. 다음 달 아카데미 시상식도 기대. [1] Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s satirical drama “Parasite” marked another milestone for Korean cinema when it became the first Korean film to win a major US film award.*satirical: 풍자적인*mi

LG Electronics and Switzerland’s Luxoft announced Wednesday they will set up an in-vehicle infotainment joint venture in Santa Clara, California, in the first half of 2020. The partnership deal was signed by LG Electronics Chief Technology Officer Park Il-pyung and Luxoft CEO Dmitry Loschinin on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They vowed to strive for innovations in the intelligent mobility field. The JV, whose name or ownership ratio will be decided later, wil

CJ HealthCare, which was acquired by Kolmar Korea -- the 10th-largest pharmaceutical company in South Korea -- for around 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in 2018, will be rebranded by April to show its affiliation with the parent company, sources told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.As per the acquisition deal, CJ HealthCare was allowed to retain its name for two years to maintain its corporate image for sales promotion.According to sources, the company is now actively considering to change its na

The Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday it will invest 420 billion won ($360 million) in 2020 in the development of original technologies in the biologics field.The budget is 10 percent higher than the 380 billion won allocated last year, and above the 349 billion won in 2018. This year, the Science Ministry will give more support to the domestic bio industry, to gain competitiveness in research and development for novel drugs, medical devices and precision medicine such as neuroscience. It

LAS VEGAS/SEOUL -- Under its mantra “Screen is Everywhere,” Samsung Electronics on Monday announced an expanded lineup of microLED screens aimed for mass production and commercial launch for homes in the second half of the year. A full lineup of Samsung’s highest-end self-emissive microLED display brand The Wall, including 75, 88, 93, 110 and 150 inches, will be mass-produced starting from the second half of the year, according to Samsung Visual Display President Han Jong-hee a

The 2019 fourth quarter earnings by South Korea’s electronics firms will be disappointing but the figures would start to rebound in the first quarter this year, industry watchers said Sunday.Korean electronics firms will begin posting their final quarterly performance results from 2019 with Samsung and LG Electronics spearheading the announcements. The release of the quarterly reports around Wednesday is to coincide with their participation in the world’s biggest consumer electronics