Rumors of soju price hikes have stirred public disquiet over the past couple of weeks here, intensifying to the extent that the government decided to intervene in the market. The fuss temporarily ended after Hite Jinro, the country’s largest soju maker, officially announced that it was not planning on any price hikes. “I felt bitter when I heard about possible price hikes in soju, which seemed to hold out well, while everything else is getting more expensive,” said Kim, a 29-

A patent regarding Medytox’s botulinum toxin product can be embroiled in another legal dispute as its domestic rival Hugel filed for a patent invalidation in the US, according to industry sources on Friday. The patent, which could be considered for invalidation at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in the US, concerns a method for isolating Botulinum toxin from solution. Medytox applied for the patent in 2017, and the patent was issued in May last year. Hugel, however, argues that the paten

Seo Jung-jin, the founder and the honorary chairman of Celltrion Group, will return to management after leaving the company in 2021, Celltrion announced Friday. On Friday, the biopharmaceutical group's key affiliates -- Celltrion Holdings, Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare, and Celltrion Pharma held separate board meetings and recommended Seo as a candidate for director and co-chairman of the board of directors. Seo’s return will be determined at the four companies’ separate share

Webtoon, South Korean tech giant Naver’s digital comics platform, has been ranked No. 8 on Fast Company’s list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2023. Fast Company is a monthly American business magazine that publishes an annual ranking of the most innovative companies, this year in 54 different industries and sectors. In the media sector, Webtoon was ranked top, followed by The New York Times. Fast Company said, “Webtoon pioneered a new way to experience dig

GC Biopharma announced on Tuesday that it has signed an asset purchase agreement with US drug developer Catalyst Biosciences to acquire its orphan hematology disorder treatment candidates. Under the agreement, GC Biopharma will acquire three drug candidates including Marzeptacog alfa (MarzAA), a rare bleeding disorder treatment candidate, which is being tested in a phase 3 global clinical trial. With the latest agreement, GC Biopharma aims to launch a first-in-class novel drug in global markets,

Huons, a local bio company, announced Tuesday that the company received regulatory approvals from Health Canada to export the company’s local anesthetics. According to Huons, both ampoule and vial types of its lidocaine -- the most widely used local anesthetic -- have received approvals from Health Canada. The company will first send 70,000 vials of its lidocaine in the second quarter this year. Formative Pharma, a Canadian firm specializing in the registration and distribution of pharmace

South Korea’s leading steelmaker Posco said on Monday that the company will build an electric furnace at the company’s manufacturing facility in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, as part of the company’s low-carbon production transition. Posco said a total of 600 billion won ($463.3 million) will be invested to build the electric furnace, which will have an annual production capacity of 2.5 million metric tons. Construction of the electric furnace will start in January next yea

Medytox will soon be entangled in another dispute with South Korea’s leading botulinum toxin, or BTX, products maker Hugel, while an ongoing legal dispute with Daewoong Pharmaceutical is expected to continue as the latter appealed to a higher court here. According to industry sources on Sunday, a lawyer from the US International Trade Commission, who is responsible for a pending dispute between Medytox and Hugel, reportedly presented an opinion that objected Hugel's request to close t

Prices of soju and beer products in South Korea are expected to rise soon due to increases in tax, as well as higher costs of logistics and raw materials, according to industry sources, Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the liquor tax on one liter of beer will increase by 30.5 won ($0.023) to 885.7 won in April. The upcoming increase will be higher than last year's rise of 20.8 won. Just by factoring in the tax increase, the factory price of a 500 milliliter beer

Posco Holdings, the holding unit of South Korean steel giant Posco Group, may be relocating its headquarters to Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, as its board of directors is set to discuss the issue at the upcoming shareholders’ meeting next month. The conflict between Posco and the residents of Pohang, however, is expected to continue because it is uncertain if employees working in the current headquarters in Seoul will also move to the industrial city some 375 kilometers southeast of

Innocean Worldwide, a South Korean marketing communications agency under Hyundai Motor Group, said Monday that Jason Sperling, a former executive creative director of Meta's Reality Labs, has joined the agency as chief creative officer of its US office. An industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Sperling has worked for many international brands, including Apple, Meta, TikTok, Amazon, Disney Pixar, Honda and UNICEF. Most recently, he served as global executive creative direct

LG Household & Health Care said Monday that it will be unveiling its own portable temporary tattoo printer, dubbed Imprintu, at the upcoming Mobile World Congress that is slated to kick off next week in Barcelona, Spain. The company will be the first South Korean beauty firm to participate in MWC, one of the largest trade shows for telecommunications and mobility technologies. A combination of "impromptu" and "print," the tattoo printer connects with mobile devices to all

LG Chem, South Korea's leading chemical firm, announced Friday that the company has signed a deal to receive 200,000 metric tons of spodumene concentrate from Piedmont Lithium, which will ensure a stable supply of the key material for the company's electric vehicle battery production. Under the deal, LG Chem will receive 50,000 tons of spodumene concentrate every year, starting in the third quarter of this year, from North American Lithium, a lithium mine in Quebec, Canada, in which Pi

Celltrion announced on Friday that the company has signed a joint research and development contract with LISCure Biosciences for a microbiome-based Parkinson's disease treatment. LISCure Biosciences is a Pangyo-based biotech company that conducts research for microbiome-based treatment for Parkinson's disease. The biotech currently has an oral microbiome drug development pipeline for Parkinson's disease, called LB-P4. Under the contract, the two companies aim to co-develop live bi

Lotte Group, the country's fifth largest conglomerate, hopes its biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing arm will become a future engine of growth, following in the footsteps of Samsung. But the road ahead remains uncertain as Lotte is still in the early stages of the business. According to industry sources, Lotte Biologics is expected to face a myriad of challenges when it comes to finding a foothold in the market, with issues from price competitiveness to talent recruitment. In 2022, t

SK Biopharmaceuticals on Wednesday said its subsidiary SK Life Science is holding sales meetings in the US this week to boost sales of its seizure medicine cenobamate in the all-important market. Cenobamate, which is sold under the brand name of Xcopri, was approved in 2019 for partial-onset seizures in adults. The company has held the promotional event traveling across the US for the fourth consecutive year with an aim of strengthening its sales network and sharing its business plans with partn

British American Tobacco’s South Korean branch announced Tuesday that the company will launch a new tobacco heating product, Glo Hyper X2, this month, in a bid to increase its share in the South Korean market. According to BAT Rothmans, the Korean arm of BAT, Glo Hyper X2 will be available on Feb. 27 at convenience stores and online e-commerce platforms. The new device is priced at 40,000 won ($31.56). “South Korea is making a significant contribution to BAT,” said BAT Rothmans

South Korean botulinum toxin manufacturers Hugel and Huons Biopharma announced Monday that the latest court ruling on a legal dispute between Medytox and Daewoong will not influence their botulinum toxin businesses, saying that their botulinum toxin strains would not face patent issues with Medytox. Hugel and Huons Biopharma are South Korean firms selling botulinum toxin products under the brand names Letybo and Liztox, respectively. The two companies’ announcements came after the Seoul Ce

ABL Bio, a South Korean drug maker, announced Monday that the company turned a profit last year, backed by milestone payments it received under licensing-out deals. ABL Bio said its annual sales in 2022 went up 1162.1 percent to reach 67.3 billion won ($52.7 million). The company’s annual operating profit came to 900 million won during the same period. ABL Bio’s sales in the previous year came to 5.3 billion won, while its operating loss reached 52.3 billion won. ABL Bio’s lice

The domestic veterinary medicine market appears to be expanding, given the myriad of new pet health care products coming out in the market. Yet local firms are struggling to expand due to low marketability, according to industry sources. “The domestic veterinary drug market is a red ocean,” said an official from a local pharmaceutical company that has been selling veterinary medicines for decades in the country. “With global drug giants already dominating the nascent market, lo