Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Tuesday that it will present its LAPSTriple Agonist as a treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease at the International Liver Congress hosted by the European Association for the Study of the Liver. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s EASL ILC is to be held online Aug. 27-29. According to Hanmi, a 12-week repetitive administration of LAPSTriple Agonist in 66 obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, also known as NASH, has shown tha

Celltrion said Friday that it will begin clinical phase 1 trials of its Prolia biosimilar CT-P41 in September. The study aims to test CT-P41’s safety in healthy participants and is anticipated to wrap up in the first half of 2021. Celltrion said it plans to finish clinical phase 3 trials by February 2025 when Prolia’s patent in the US will expire. CT-P41, as a biosimilar, gets to bypass clinical phase 2 trials given that it proves its similarity to the original drug. Proli

Despite forecasts that there will be an unprecedented boost in global demand for the flu vaccine this year, Sanofi Pasteur Korea said Friday it will continue to provide free inoculations for the homeless. “Due to COVID-19 this year, we have seen an unprecedented increase in influenza vaccine demand as health authorities seek to prevent what is preventable and keep people who are at risk of influenza safe,” a company official said. Sanofi Pasteur anticipates around a 20 percent i

ULikeKorea, a preventive health care company for livestock, said Friday that it has expanded its bio-capsule services to sheep in Mongolia. ULikeKorea’s LiveCare bio-capsule has passed proof of concept at sheep farms in Erdene Soum, Mongolia, some 50 kilometers east of the capital Ulaanbaatar using SK TNS’ 6-kilometer long-range Lora network and one other foreign partner’s collaboration. Mongolia has a vast number of sheep, with the country’s livestock population esti

SK Bioscience will contract develop and manufacture American biotechnology firm Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, the company said Thursday. Through a trilateral agreement, SK Bioscience, Novavax and Korea’s Ministry of Healthcare will collaborate to quickly and stably produce the vaccine; support equitable global distribution; and improve public healthcare in Korea through efforts to secure supply. SK Bioscience, a vaccine-specialized spin-off of SK Chemical, recently rose in global r

Demand for flu vaccines is anticipated to more than double this year on the back of COVID-19 pandemic, according to industry sources. As symptoms of influenza infection closely resemble that of the COVID-19 pandemic -- high fever and respiratory system inflammation -- by common sense the world anticipates there will be more demand for precautions against flu. “If in the past some 20 million people took flu repelling shots here in South Korea, this year we expect the number to go up to 3

As nations battle over access to a potential COVID-19 vaccine, Korea is under pressure to secure its share. But as some nations cut corners, the government says it won’t sacrifice safety in its quest for a solution. Currently, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has approved two clinical phase 1 2/a trials of COVID-19 vaccines in the country. One is American company Inovio’s INO-4800 being tested here by the International Vaccine Institute and the other is Genexine’s GX-19. T

Samsung Biologics on Tuesday announced its plans to invest 1.74 trillion won ($1.46 billion) and hire 1,800 new employees for a massive fourth plant in Songdo, Incheon, by 2023. 　“At 256,000 liters output in a single generation, the new plant will renew our record as the biggest single biologics generator,” said CEO Kim Tae-han. 　“After construction, Samsung Biologics will have a combined 620,000-liter output at its Songdo complex 1, accounting for 30 percent of the world&rsq

Medytox on Monday released a file containing the full text of the US International Trade Commission’s initial determination against Daewoong in a trade dispute between the two South Korean pharmaceutical companies. The document is 274 pages long, and Medytox said it would allow individual readers to make their own judgments about the case. Daewoong said last week that the ITC’s decision was groundless. Medytox and Daewoong are embroiled in a high-profile battle over the former&rsq

Even non-sneakerheads are realizing the lucrative nature of sneaker resale these days. O Jee-ye had never been much interested in expensive shoes. Shoes kissed ground-level microbes. They wore out much quicker than other items of clothing. What shoes are for, O thought, was for protection. They were good if breathable, durable, didn’t give her blisters and matched the day’s outfit. It was a shock for O when she learned through a close friend of hers that he easily makes 300,000 w

　Genexine‘s COVID-19 treatment candidate GX-17 was given the Korean drug authority’s grant to proceed to phase 1 human trials, Friday. 　GX-17 is a protein drug recombining human IL-7 and hybrid Fc (hyFc) that the company had been developing as an anti-cancer treatment. It is a T-Cell growth factor that proliferates a patient‘s immune cells, by which it slows the progression of an illness and hastens recovery. 　With the addition of GX-17, South Korea now has 13 treatment resea

Daewoong Pharmaceutical on Friday accused the US’ International Trade Commission’s decision to put a 10-year sales ban on its botulinum toxin product of “lacking evidence” and being “biased and distorted.” Daewoong said it has filed a detailed complaint to the USITC for its “significant errors.” Daewoong has been enwrapped in legal battles in Korea and in the US against Medytox for nearly five years over an alleged theft of trade secrets by a for

Celltrion posted a record-setting second quarter report on Friday, citing Truxima’s rapid market uptake in the US and increased productivity at its reinforced plant No. 1 in Songdo, Incheon. Celltrion’s second quarter revenue reached 428.8 billion won ($361.7 million), up 82.5 percent on-year, and operating profit hit 181.8 billion won, up 118 percent on-year. Both are the highest numbers Celltrion has reported in any quarter. The company is confident it has ample power to generate

Enzychem Lifesciences’ COVID-19 treatment candidate EC-18 was granted by the US’ Food and Drug Administration to carry out phase 2 clinical trial on confirmed patients, the company said Friday. In this phase 2 clinical trial, Enzychem Lifesciences will confirm the therapeutic effects of EC-18 for acute respiratory distress syndrome prevalent in COVID-19 patients with pneumonia. EC-18 is a novel drug candidate that had been in phase 2 clinical trials for chemoradiation-induced oral

Arvelle Therapeutics, founded in 2019, is a Switzerland-based biopharmaceutical company that focuses on innovative central nervous system drugs. The company’s noticeable idiosyncrasy? It has only one pipeline, which happens to be South Korean SK Biopharmaceuticals’ cenobamate, a drug used to treat partial-onset seizures in adults. “Arvelle was founded to in-license cenobamate,” said Mark Altemeyer, CEO of Arvelle, in an exclusive interview with The Korea Herald held acr

Samsung Biologics on Tuesday launched a proprietary cell line expression technology called S-CHOice, intent to improve its contract development services by shortening the drug development period for clients and lowering their drug product costs. 　Through an online ceremony streamed via YouTube, the company’s vice president of contract development business, Yang Eun-young, and director of cell line development, John Gill, introduced S-CHOice, which the company will offer to “all clie

Hanmi Pharmaceutical licensed out HM12525A to American firm MSD on Tuesday as a nonalcoholic fatty liver treatment candidate -- a promising turn of events after the pipeline was returned by Janssen last year. HM12525A, variably known as “LAPSGLP/Glucagon receptor dual agonist” and “efinopegdutide,” was first licensed out to Belgium’s Janssen in 2015 as a potential treatment for obesity and diabetes. Janssen later determined in 2019 to cease the research and return

Bioneer signed a deal worth 5.6 billion won ($4.7 million) to supply the South American country of Colombia with COVID-19 test kits and sequencing machine, the company said Tuesday. Bioneer has the capability to provide both COVID-19 test kits and the sequencing machine to read the kits. It asserts to be the only Korean firm with such total-solution capacity. Under the new deal, Bioneer will provide 5 billion won worth of COVID-19 kits and 600 million won worth of machinery to Colombia in the

This article was written after a one-on-one tour of Samsung Biologics’ plants. -- Ed. If this era insists that there be “photos or it didn’t happen,” then this trip to Samsung Biologics’ plants may as well have not taken place. All Samsung plants are under strict security protocols, meaning phones only pass the security gate once tape is placed over both the front and rear cameras. There is also no Wi-Fi for visitors. So, since no selfies and no candid videos c

Chong Kun Dang’s second quarter net profit rose 100 percent on-year due to decreased spending on marketing amid COVID-19 social distancing, and solid sales of its chronic illness treatments. Hi Investment & Securities said Monday it is upward-adjusting prospects for Chong Kun Dang by 26.9 percent from previous 130,000 won ($109) to 165,000 won. Shinyoung Securities set the prospect slightly higher at 170,000 won and reinforced the opinion to buy. Chong Kun Dang’s performance wa