SK Biopharmaceuticals announced Friday that it had signed an out-licensing deal with Hikma MENA FZE, the Middle East and North Africa unit of British drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals, for its epilepsy medication Cenobamate. Cenobamate is a medication for partial-onset seizures in adults. The drug is currently sold under the brand name Xcopri in the US and Ontozry in Europe. Under the agreement, Hikma MENA FZE is granted rights to commercialize Xcopri in 16 countries in the Middle East and North A

South Korean pharmaceutical company Celltrion said Thursday it will merge with its sales unit, Celltrion Healthcare, next month to enhance business synergy and operational efficiency. “The boards of both companies have approved the merger proposal,” Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin said during a livestreamed online briefing later in the day. “The merger will be completed by Dec. 28.” According to the company, for every 1 share, Celltrion Healthcare's shareholders will

Seasonal fruits in South Korea could become vastly different in the following decades, as warmer temperatures will gradually reduce cultivable areas for popular fruit crops here. Apples, grapes and pears could slowly fade into the background, while tropical fruits such as mangoes and passion fruit take center stage. “We may not be able to see the change immediately. But, fruit crops that we will see at discount stores and traditional markets may change in the future. What we call seasonal

South Korean trading company STX announced Wednesday that the company's board has approved a spinoff of its new shipping and logistics firm, which is tentatively named STX Green Logis, ahead of its stock listing next month. STX said its shares will be divided in an 80:20 ratio between STX and STX Green Logis. For every 100 shares, shareholders will receive around 23 shares of STX Green Logics and 77 shares of STX. The price of STX Green Logis shares will be decided after the company makes i

Hyundai Bioscience said Sunday that it will co-develop a broad-spectrum antiviral drug with the US National Institutes of Health, a federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research and the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. A non-clinical evaluation agreement was signed on Friday between Hyundai Bioscience USA, a US-based subsidiary of the Korean pharmaceutical company, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under the NIH, the compan

South Korean national carrier Korean Air has started to provide in-flight Wi-Fi connection on some of its Airbus A321neo aircraft, industry sources said Sunday. The expansion of in-flight Wi-Fi connection is part of the company’s long-term goal to expand the in-flight connection to 100 percent of its international flights. The number of Korean Air’s Airbus A321neo aircraft that provide in-flight Wi-Fi connection is currently six. Those A321neo flights operate on the routes connecting

Moving forward from South Korea's dynamic seven decades, The Korea Herald identifies the seven most crucial challenges the nation must overcome for a sustainable and prosperous future. – Ed. Climate crisis becomes irreversible reality Climate change has long been considered a future disaster rather than a present threat by many Koreans. However, it has now become a largely irreversible reality, manifesting as a series of extreme weather events that significantly affect people'

Efforts are underway to consider sex differences in drug development by increasing woman’s participation in clinical trials, but the lack of regulatory guidelines remains a barrier to taking gender diversity into account, experts say. The COVID-19 pandemic and South Korea’s vaccination programs have shed light on how a disease and its treatment can affect men and women differently. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s data, the percentage of female pat

Japan’s Osaka and Tokyo were the two most popular outbound destinations for South Korean travelers in the first half of this year, according to government data Monday. Data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport showed that the route connecting Incheon Airport and Osaka’s Kansai International Airport was the most popular flight route in the January-June period with about 1.7 million passengers. The second busiest international flight route was the Incheon-Tokyo (Nar

Lee Boo-jin, the president and chief executive of Hotel Shilla, has been appointed as the director of the Dooeul Scholarship Foundation, local reports said Friday. The Dooeul Scholarship Foundation was established in commemoration of Park Doo-eul, the late founder of Samsung Lee Byeong-cheol’s wife in 2000. Lee In-hee, an advisor to Hansol Group and an elder sister of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, ran the foundation until 2019 until she passed away. Since 2019, the director post has

South Korean department stores on Friday boosted security measures after copycat crime threats went viral online, following a stabbing rampage at a department store in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday. Lotte Property & Investment, one of the leading department store operators here, on Friday dispatched a security team of 130 members to the area around Lotte Tower near Jamsil Station. Lotte added it has also sent three anti-terrorism agents to search the area. Jamsil Station was one of

By Ben Verhaert Oriental Brewery CEO Now is the best season for enjoying a refreshing beer, and Aug. 4 is International Beer Day and I would like to speak for beers today, especially for Korean beers. As one of the oldest human-produced drinks, the beer has many charm factors which have allowed humankind to enjoy it for so long as 8,000 years. First of all, beer is inclusive. Men and women across geographies and socioeconomic groups enjoy having a beer with friends. Beer has always been a great

Real estate prices of logistics centers in the greater Seoul area in the first half of this year have dropped over 20 percent from the previous six month period, amid an oversupply of such facilities and a sluggish economy, according to a local report released on Thursday. According to real estate market research firm Rsquare's report, the average price of a plot of land measuring 3.3 square meters used by logistics centers in Seoul and the surrounding area came to 5.96 million won, down 23

Samsung Bioepis is considering acquiring a biosimilar business unit of Biogen for around 1 trillion won ($775.3 million) to improve its presence in the US market, according to local reports on Wednesday. The acquisition will see Samsung Bioepis secure a direct sales network in the US, which could help it boost sales in the world's largest drug market. The reports on Samsung Bioepis’ potential acquisition came as Biogen is in the process of restructuring to cut costs, after the compa

Northern Ireland may not have always been a priority market for South Korean firms seeking overseas expansion, but the country has great potential to become an attractive investment destination in the near future, taking advantage of upcoming new free trade talks between Korea and the UK. “We will be starting to renegotiate the UK-Korea Free Trade Agreement this autumn. We already have a free trade agreement that we inherited from the (European Union) but will now be renegotiating that, to

LG Chem, a Korean chemicals manufacturer and drug developer, said Tuesday that the company is developing the country's first homegrown hexavalent vaccine for babies. A hexavalent vaccine, in which the country is entirely dependent on imports, is a combination vaccine that allows fewer injections for babies. It also provides more protection against six deadly diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenza type B and hepatitis B. LG Chem said the comp

The number of South Korean tourists to Japan surpassed 3 million in the first half of this year, recovering to pre-pandemic levels. The number of Japanese people visiting South Korea, however, has rebounded at a much slower pace to reach some 860,000, according to government data Monday. The yen’s prolonged weakness and Japan’s well-established tourism infrastructure and diverse tourist destinations made the difference, industry sources explained. According to data compiled by the Ko

The size of South Korea’s domestic drug market reached an all-time high of 29.9 trillion won ($23.4 billion) last year, up 17.6 percent on-year, according to government data, Sunday. The drug market size is calculated by adding the value of total drug production here and the drug import value, then subtracting the drug export value. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the country’s drug production in 2022 grew 13.6 percent on-year to 28.9 trillion won, from 25.49 trill

KT&G, South Korea's dominant tobacco and ginseng company, said Thursday its chief executive and employees carried out voluntary work at a soup kitchen in Seoul to help homeless people and senior citizens bear the summer heat. KT&G CEO Baek Bok-in and 20 other executives and employees took part in serving food to homeless people and aged people living alone, at the meal center, according to the firm. “May the food that we have prepared become a strength to people who are suffer

Samsung Biologics said Wednesday that the company’s earnings in the first half reached all-time highs, with 1.59 trillion won ($1.23 billion) in sales and an operating profit of 445.2 billion won, supported by a solid contract-winning spree. Compared with the first half of last year, Samsung Biologics' sales increased by 36 percent, while its operating profit climbed 29 percent. Samsung Biologics’ attributed its improved earnings this year to the large-scale contract manufacturi