진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer 1. Is she real? Artificial humans move to the fore 아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2 팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638 [1] If the names Miquela or Imma ring a bell, you have been keeping up with the growing demographic of digital humans. Miquela and Imma are Instagram influencers, respectively followed by 2.48 million and 200,000 users. They are computer-generated imageries, but have pretty re

South Korean government officials on Tuesday held an explanatory session with pharmaceutical company researchers to go over the details of how the extra budget assigned for COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development will be utilized. What drew special attention was how the development of vaccines had more budget set aside for support than treatments, albeit by a small margin. The Ministry of Health is giving 45 billion won ($37.5 million) to support all phases of clinical trials for COVID-19

FugenBio, a South Korean bio firm using original materials to develop health care and medical products, announced Tuesday it has found novel materials to treat diabetes after its decade-long research. The firm’s CEO Kim Yoon-soo said at a press conference that it has received approval for its breakthrough fungus ceriporia lacerate from the local Drug Ministry as a viable health supplement ingredient. “If it succeeds, we would be the world’s first to develop and commercialize

The South Korean government announced Tuesday it will inject 61.9 billion won ($51.3 million) by 2025 to foster Asia’s first human resources platform for bioprocessing talents. Ministers of trade and health -- Sung Yun-mo and Park Neung-hoo -- attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding in central Seoul. In what would be Asia’s first state-driven agenda to foster bioprocessing professionals, the memorandum holds the Trade Ministry responsible for establishing a good manuf

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday its researchers have identified interferon as the cause of cytokine storm in severely affected COVID-19 patients. Interferon is a type of cytokine that has been known to bring up antiviral defenses against infections. While they have been known as the good cytokines, the researchers at KAIST believe they may trigger adverse effects in COVID-19 patients. This finding may provide grounds for new treatment approaches that target

A new law to fast-track the market entries of regenerative medicines and biologics drugs is to go into effect from next month. Relevant players in South Korea have been hoping the new rules will accelerate their development. To be effective starting Aug. 28, the new bio law, nicknamed the “Cheomsaeng” law, seeks to ensure the safety of and support for cutting-edge regenerative medicine and biologics drugs. “Cheom” is short for “cheomdan,” which means “c

Expectations are growing that South Korea will have plasma-derived COVID-19 therapy by the end of this year, but with the lack of blood donors, the deadline appears unrealistic. GC Pharma, which is leading the research and development of Korea’s plasma-derived therapy for COVID-19, aims to make its GC5131A pipeline commercially available this year. The drug will not eradicate COVID-19, but will lower the death toll among critically ill patients, a GC Pharma official told The Korea Herald

If the names Miquela or Imma ring a bell, you have been keeping up with the growing demographic of digital humans. Miquela and Imma are Instagram influencers, respectively followed by 2.48 million and 200,000 users. They are computer-generated imageries, but have pretty realistic personal descriptions. For example, Miquela is an American that hails from Los Angeles, California, who has Spanish and Brazilian heritage. Her passions are music and creating a world where women‘s voices are

Five bio associations in Korea and their 50-something member companies will discuss plans to support ongoing efforts to develop COVID-19 treatments and vaccines in Korea. The talks will be livestreamed on YouTube on Tuesday at 4 p.m. by the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association. The physical event will take place at KPBMA’s auditorium in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, Korea Biomedicine Industry Association, Korea Medical Devices

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday praised Korean industry’s progress in securing supply independence from Japan, and said he would shift his administration’s policies for the materials, components and equipment industries from a defensive to an aggressive footing in order to stabilize the global value chain. Moon visited the nation’s second-largest chipmaker SK hynix’s plant in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, accompanied by the SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, to review the pr

Medytox shares made a dramatic turnaround Tuesday, following the US International Trade Commission’s initial determination advising a 10-year sales ban on Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s Jeuveau. 　The South Korean company and its US partner Allergan had filed a complaint against Daewoong and its partner Evolus at the USITC in 2019 contesting that the latter’s botulinum toxin Jeuveau that hit shelves in the US was a product of industrial poaching. 　Medytox shares Tuesday shot up t

When demand for facial masks surged, prescient investors immediately set their eyes on nonwoven fabric suppliers who manufacture the ingredients. Now, as remdesivir has been anointed as the only drug to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an emergency COVID-19 treatment, investors are paying attention to what constitutes the riboneucleic acid drug. Remdesivir is a nucleoside analogue, or a nucleoside RNA polymerase inhibitor. If that sounds like alien talk, the FDA explains

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Monday it will carry out phase 1 clinical trials of its COVID-19 stem cell therapy in Indonesia. Its Indonesian arm Daewoong Infion has been conducting research for the efficacy of the pipeline DWP710 (mesenchymal stem cell) for treating the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, jointly with the Indonesian Health Ministry. In the animal tests, Daewoong Infion was able to confirm DWP710’s antiviral effects and the increased rate of survival in animals showing accute

LG Electronics is aggressively launching its PuriCare products overseas, the company said Friday. The electronics giant‘s three representative air purifying products are a 360 degrees-rotation air purifier, a portable mini air purifier and an industrial-sized air purifier. The LG PuriCare 360 Air Purifier has already been launched in the US, China, Japan, India and Thailand. Additionally, it will become available in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Vietnam and Hungray this year.

AMPAC Fine Chemicals, one of the constituents of the consolidated global pharmaceuticals contract manufacturing organization SK Pharmteco, said Friday that it has appointed Jeff Butler as the new president. Butler was previously vice president of project management at AFC. Promoted as the president, Butler is now responsible for operations across all US-based facilities, AFC said. “Jeff has been very instrumental in the growth of AFC. His technical leadership coupled with his busine

Boryung Pharmaceutical said Wednesday it will make an incremental 24 billion won ($20 million) investment in innovative US health care firms. The investment will be carried out over three years by Hayan I, L.P., which is a corporate venture capital fund established in the US by Boryung. Boryung Pharmaceutical plans to strengthen its pipelines for novel drugs development through open innovation with the promising companies it invests in in the US. Boryung’s US entity, Hayan Health Netwo

Samsung Display said Wednesday it anticipates to begin mass production of quantum-dot panels from 2021. The company held a celebratory event at its facility in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, where CEO Lee Dong-hoon oversaw the delivery of the first batch of QD manufacturing equipment. “Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our close collaborative ecosystem with global partners enabled us to carry out our QD investments according to plan,” said Choi Joo-sun, chief of large-size display

Yuhan Corp. announced Wednesday it has licensed GI Innovation’s next-generation allergy treatment pipeline in a deal that could potentially total $1.2 billion. 　“I am very pleased by this collaboration with GI Innovation to develop the next-generation allergy treatment across all four major allergic diseases; allergic asthma, chronic urticaria, atopic dermatitis and food allergy, improving the lives of pediatric and adult patients who suffer from allergies” said Yuhan Preside

Huons Global said Tuesday that it will be the first South Korean firm to supply high-filtration masks to the state of Washington in the US. “This deal shows that Huons’ epidemic prevention products have gained trust. We are also exchanging messages with the state of New York, where we anticipate to sign more deals,” said Um Key-an, CEO of Huons. Huons had signed deals to export various epidemic prevention tools to the US since May. The six deals amount to roughly 8 billi

Global science and technology company Merck has opened the Korea Advanced Technology Center in Songtan Industrial Complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, the company said Tuesday. “K-ATeC,” according to Merck, is a state-of-the-art facility that supports research and development for chemical mechanical polishing slurries as well as for the post-CMP cleaning of cutting-edge semiconductor devices.  “Korea is an important innovation and production hub for Merck. We ha