A South Korean pharmacists’ association on Monday sided with drug wholesalers demanding 3 percent reimbursement for costs incurred in the aftermath of a recall on ranitidine. Ranitidine is a drug used to treat ulcers of the stomach and intestine. In September, the US Food and Drug Agency found that the drug contained a carcinogenic substance called N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). The most popular ranitidine drug, GSK’s Zantac, was pulled from shelves, as were its many generic versions

LG Chem announced Monday it has become the first South Korean battery manufacturer to join the Responsible Minerals Initiative.RMI is a global association established in 2008 that monitors the ethical sourcing of minerals -- such as gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten -- mined in conflict regions. It also keeps an eye on the sustainable mining of cobalt, an indispensable raw material for batteries used for smartphones and electric vehicles.LG Chem said it joined the RMI to transparently source the

The US Food and Drug Administration is likely to make a final decision in November on approval for Cenobamate, an investigational antiepileptic drug developed by SK Biopharmaceuticals.The company is the pharmaceuticals development business under SK Holdings. The firm has been researching for new treatments for diseases related to central nervous system since 1993. Since 2011, when SK Biopharmaceuticals was spun off to become a separate entity, the company has used roughly 480 billion w

Korean pharma and biopharma companies are considering the inevitable: the advance to the Chinese market. According to Korea Health Industry Development Institute, Friday, China was the second biggest market for pharmaceuticals after the US in 2018.The Chinese pharma market was set at $142.7 billion, still a far cry from the US at $361.5 billion. Japan trailed in third place at $108 billion and Germany at $71.7 billion. Korea ranked No. 13 worldwide at $17.4 billion.  Yuhan Corp., one of Kor

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s wrinkle-removing botulinum toxin Nabota has launched in Canada under the name Nuceiva, the company said Thursday. Marketed outside of Korea by US-based Evolus, Daewoong’s product is the first Korea-made BTX to penetrate the US market. Evolus gained the US Food and Drug Administration’s sales approval for the drug in March and launched it under the name Jeuveau in May.  As for the launch in Canada, Park Sung-soo, head of Daewoong’s Nabota bus

The Supreme Court of South Korea upheld earlier rulings to suspend the Financial Services Commission’s restrictions on Samsung BioLogics, citing fear of irreparable damage to the company.　Samsung BioLogics shares on Wednesday jumped just shy of 4 percent to 339,000 won ($285). The Supreme Court’s decision is in line with the earlier ruling from the High Court, which had declared at end-May, “If, according to the suggested restriction, an FSC-appointed auditor replaces top finan

The South Korean bio market is not faring well, or so the media here says, fanning anxiety among individual investors. But PMG Investment Solutions’ Head of Healthcare Investment Kwon Myoung-ok brushes that idea aside with a light chortle. “Failure is in the nature of biotech research and development,” Kwon said in an interview with The Korea Herald at the Korea Bio office in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. “The foreign big pharmas with 100 to 200 years of h

Daewoong and Medytox once again butted heads over newly submitted DNA investigation reports about each other’s BTX strains. The South Korean manufacturers of wrinkle-erasing botulinum toxin products Meditoxin and Nabota are entangled in legal battles in Korea and the US regarding the source of Daewoong’s BTX strain. Medytox claims Daewoong stole its BTX through a former employee who moved to Daewoong. DNA analysis of the two firms’ BTX was intended to shine a light on the riddl

LG Chem was the biggest beneficiary of government subsidies for innovative pharmaceutical firms last year, according to the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday. The government doled out subsidies of 92.2 billion won ($78 million) to 45 pharmaceutical firms carrying out innovative projects in 2018. LG Chem got 13.6 billion won, followed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical (9.2 billion won), Chong Kun Dang (9.1 billion won), Viromed (8.9 billion won), Celltrion (6.8

How does it add up when a games company acquires a home appliance rental business? Netmarble, a Korean firm that focuses on mobile game development and distribution, was on Monday named the preferred bidder for a 25.08 percent stake in Woongjin Coway, a firm that operates subscription services for water and air purifiers, mattresses and other miscellaneous household appliances.Netmarble, through an investors’ conference call the same day, explained that it will combine the technological ex

　The worst path a company can go down in times of business crisis is to deny responsibility, attack victims, defend itself and delay a public apology, said Kim Hoh, founder and CEO of The LAB h, at The Korea Herald Biz Forum on Friday at the Shilla Seoul. 　The problem is that may just be what our brains are designed to do. 　Kim, citing socio-psychological research, illustrated that under stress, the brain’s emotional control system dominates over its reasonable decision-making capability,

Medytox said Wednesday that it has appointed US attorney Joon H. Kim to represent it in a lawsuit against Daewoong Pharmaceutical in the US.Kim is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb, which focuses on white-collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, crisis management, commercial litigation and arbitration.  Medytox emphasized Kim’s previous role as the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York from March 2017 to January 2018, where he held one of the highest-l

Lineage2M will release in Korea first, before going anywhere global, NCSoft said Tuesday. “We are not considering a simultaneous worldwide launch,” said Lee Sung-gu, a managing director at NCSoft, at a press event about the upcoming mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing game. This is the first new game NCSoft will release in two years. The exact launch date has yet to be announced, but character creation will open Oct. 15 to give select users a head start. Globally, in cou

Medytox on Monday said its botulinum toxin (BTX) strain formed spores when tested according to the Daewoong Pharmaceutical way, in yet another turn amid the ongoing legal battle between the two firms.Medytox alleges Daewoong stole its BTX strain and trade-secret separation and purification method through a former Medytox employee who joined Daewoong.The firms have ongoing suits in Korea and the US. Daewoong’s BTX Nabota is making inroads to the US and Europe, under the names Jeuveau and Nu

Once notorious for painstakingly long working hours and unfavorable conditions, game companies here are making a 180-degree-turn, offering workplace benefits that stretch beyond conventional areas.In-house day care for children, various classes to help employees develop their skills, gyms, libraries and lavish cafeteria meals are no longer unusual at these companies, according to industry sources.But Kakao Games and Pearl Abyss have other benefits that are more unusual. Kakao Games offers, among

The results of phase 1 and 2 clinical studies for Yuhan’s cancer drug lazertinib, suggesting that it has a “tolerable” safety profile and warrants further clinical investigation, were published in the prestigious journal the Lancet Oncology, the company said Friday.The Lancet, founded in 1823, is an international weekly medical journal.Lazertinib is an irreversible, third-generation, mutant-selective, EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Yuhan hopes it can provide another option for

More than 300 cases of Invossa side effects have been reported, the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee said Friday. Invossa is the first-ever gene therapy drug from Korea that treats joint inflammation. Kolon Life Science acquired the sales approval of the drug in July 2017, only to have it revoked this May after the company admitted mislabeling the drug’s main ingredient.When applying for Invossa’s commercialization with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety here,

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety inspected six gene therapy companies as a follow-up measure to the Invossa issue, a wire report said Thursday.Invossa, a gene therapy for joint inflammation treatment by Kolon Life Science, was stripped of its sales approval in May this year after the company belatedly reported a mislabeling of the key cell used in the drug. Invossa obtained the MFDS approval in July 2017 and started commercial sale in November of the same year.While attempting to make inroad

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s botulinum toxin Nuceiva was greenlighted by the European Commission for commercialization, Daewoong said Wednesday. US’ Evolus, the exclusive partner of Daewoong, plans to roll out Nuceiva in Europe from 2020 as forehead wrinkle smoothening treatment. Nuceiva is known as Navota in Korea and Jeuveau in the US.  Daewoong put emphasis on having made inroads to both US and Europe markets, which together account for approximately 70 percent of the world&rsqu

Celltrion will launch its human immunodeficiency virus treatment Temixys in the US at a significantly lower price, the company announced Tuesday. Temixys was approved in November 2018 by the US Food and Drug Administration. Celltrion said it expects the drug’s commercialization to start soon. The tablet is taken once daily and combines the two original chemical drugs Epivir and Viread. As original drugs, the cost for Epivir oral solution (10 mg/mL) is around $125 for a supply of 240 millil