SINGAPORE — In Singapore, you will most likely spot green-colored vehicles or motorbikes roaming the streets in every part of the city. Though they may be an unfamiliar sight to foreign tourists, they’re a part of the everyday mobility scene in the city-state as well as most parts of Southeast Asia.　　Meet Grab, the largest ride-hailing app in Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, Grab’s fleet of private vehicles, taxis and motorbikes currently dominates the ride-hailing market in eight countries i

SWORDS, Ireland — With a complex system of metal pipes filling up the space, trucks carrying large tanks of marked substances and chimneys belching out puffs of white, the facility seems like a typical fine chemicals plant from the outside.However, it is not brewing chemicals for heavy industry, but the baseline ingredients for life-saving medications developed by some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca and Pfizer.Meet SK biotek Ireland, a

South Korea’s major biopharmaceutical companies have headed to Boston this week to take part in the 2018 Bio International Convention, with aims to promote their technologies to interested partners and potentially strike new deals.　The four-day conference, which kicks off Monday, is considered one of the world’s biggest biotech and pharma industry events. This year’s edition is taking place in Boston, a hub of top-class biotech research institutes, healthcare corporations, startups and investors

WeWork, the world’s largest provider of co-working spaces, officially introduced its new startup acceleration space WeWorks Labs in South Korea on Thursday, pledging to help early-stage startups here grow and expand globally.WeWork Labs is a shared working space for young startups, where tenants can access a variety of acceleration programs, networking support as well as consulting and mentorship from strategic investors, venture capitals and veteran entrepreneurs.Korea is the first country in A

South Korean biopharma company Celltrion said Wednesday that it has resubmitted its Rituxan-referencing biosimilar Truxima to the US Food and Drug Administration for a second review, resuming approval procedures that were recently halted due to manufacturing issues observed by the FDA.　Celltrion also plans to resubmit Herzuma -- its biosimilar referencing Herceptin -- to the US FDA in June. As the US regulator’s approval procedures are completed within six month from the date of resubmission, Ce

For the first time, esports — competitive video gaming — is set to be incorporated as an official medal event at the 2018 Asian Games that kick off in Indonesia in August. And all eyes are on whether South Korea, an esports powerhouse, will be participating in the inaugural event.　Until recently, it was uncertain whether Korea would be sending esports players to the upcoming Asian Games due to domestic administrative issues.In order to send national athletes to the Asian Games, at least one regi

South Korean biopharmaceutical companies want the government to come up with industry-specific accounting standards that take into consideration the nature of the R&D-driven new drug development process, according to survey results released Tuesday by the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization.　Among 26 biotech companies of different revenue sizes surveyed by KoreaBio, 84 percent said that the government should establish clear accounting standards specific to biotech firms.　More specifically,

The Korea Forest Service has been working over the past decades to develop recreational forests across South Korea, with aims to transform the country’s natural forests and mountains into public parks for recreational and leisure activities.The state-run forest management body embarked on the recreational forest development project in 1988, and has since come to operate 166 state-run, public and private-run forest recreation parks visited by some 16 million people annually, as of end-2017.And no

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles highlighting South Korea’s promising startups in the emerging sectors of digital health care and next-generation medical devices. This is the 19th installment. - Ed.　Whether we know it or not, we are heavily guided by our emotions when making decisions or forming an opinion. For instance, you might unconsciously choose to buy a particular facial cream after being exposed to the product in an advertisement that used background music that you lik

Incheon International Airport Corp., the operator of South Korea’s Incheon International Airport, is looking to extend its airport operations expertise to emerging markets in Eastern Europe as it has begun efforts to score new deals to develop and operate new airports in Poland and the Czech Republic.The move comes after the Incheon Airport operator won a bid to operate Kuwait’s newly-built Terminal 4 in a deal valued at 140 billion won ($128 million) earlier this month, marking its biggest over

Blockchain, a distributed ledger system, is viewed as a revolutionary technology with applicative value across diverse sectors. But the big question has always been: where and how can blockchain be used to bring about practical changes?　A handful of South Korea’s startups have set their eyes on healthcare data management -- creating a new blockchain-based healthcare data platform where health records can be safely stored and actively traded among stakeholders.The platform would be self-operation

- 엘러간, 현재 타임라인 상 ‘4분기 내로 이노톡스 임상 시작 예정’- 메디톡스, 5월 중 엘러간 측에 3상용 임상 샘플 제품 제공 완료한 것으로 추정　　　[코리아헤럴드=손지영 기자] 다국적제약사 엘러간(Allergan)이 메디톡스의 액상형 보톡스 ‘이노톡스’의 임상 3상을 4분 기 중 시작 할 것이라고 23일 공식 입장을 밝혔다. 계획 변경이 없는 한 올해 중으로 미국 내 임상 3상에 돌입한다는 것이다.　　엘러간 본사는 23일 코리아헤럴드에 “메디톡스 측에서 3상을 위한 이노톡스 (Innotox, 미국 내 명칭 MT10109L) 임상용 제품을 2분기 내에 보낼 예정”이며 “현 타임라인 상 이노톡스의 임상 3상을 2018년 4분기에 시작할 것”이라고 밝혔다.　　엘러간은 작년 11월 “메디톡스가 3상을 위한 임상용 제품을 계획대로 2018년에 제공한다면 이노톡스의 임상 3상을 “가능한 선에서 가장 빠른 시일 내로 시작할 것”이란 입장을 내놓기도 했다. 　 메디톡스가 개발한 액상형 보

SUPPORTING PATIENTS WITH RARE DISEASES -- Pfizer Korea employees promote Rare Disease Day with the launch of a campaign to raise awareness of rare diseases. Dubbed the “Rare Disease 7000-Zebra Campaign,” the campaign aims to encourage patients worldwide who suffer from rare diseases, of which there are more than 7,000 types. The zebra represents rare diseases under the message that “when you hear hoof beats, think of horses, not zebras.” (Pfizer Korea)

Allergan gave official confirmation Wednesday that it would initiate phase 3 clinical trials of Innotox, Medytox’s Type A liquid-type botulinum toxin in the fourth quarter of this year, as it expects to receive the needed clinical supplies from Medytox before June. 　“Medytox plans to deliver phase 3 clinical supplies to Allergan this quarter. As previously stated, clinical development timelines can change, but based on the current timing, Allergan plans to commence Phase 3 in Q4 2018,” Allergan

YouTube is South Korea’s top-used mobile app for not only streaming online videos, but also listening to music, according to new survey results recently released by the Korea Internet Corporations Association.The “Mobile Service User Behavior Survey” was jointly carried out by the internet business body and Research & Research. It asked 1,000 people between the ages of 15 and 60 about their mobile service usage patterns and app preferences.According to the survey, the top mobile app activities u

LG CHAIRMAN LAID TO REST —  Mourners pay their respects to LG Group’s late chairman Koo Bon-moo at the Seoul National University Hospital on Tuesday morning, before his body is moved to the cemetery. Tuesday marked the conclusion of Koo’s three-day funeral, which was attended by family members, business leaders and LG officials. Koo died at the age of 73 on Sunday morning, after a yearlong battle with brain disease. The remaining ceremony held at the cemetery was closed to the press upon the wis

GC Pharma, a South Korean biopharmaceutical company formerly known as Green Cross, on Monday announced the establishment of a new vaccine development unit, Curevo Inc., in the US. 　The new Seattle-based company will support GC Pharma’s next-generation vaccine development activities and the launch of a premium vaccine for shingles, according to the Korean drugmaker.For this task, Curevo has formed partnerships with global health organizations including the US-based Infectious Disease Research Ins

Oracle Korea’s labor union, which began a three-day strike from Wednesday to protest what they claim are low wages and poor working conditions, announced Friday that they would continue to strike for an indefinite period until their demands are met.　The decision to prolong the strike indefinitely was reached at a general meeting of the labor union on Thursday, according to local news reports. The labor union, which was formed in September 2017, began a walkout after it failed to reach an agreeme

South Korean contract drug manufacturer Samsung BioLogics said Friday that its joint venture partner Biogen has officially notified the company of its intention to exercise its call option to increase its stake in Samsung Bioepis to 49.9 percent next month.　“Samsung BioLogics has received a letter from Biogen stipulating that it plans to exercise its call option before the June 29 (midnight) deadline and that the two companies should prepare for a stock exchange deal,” Samsung BioLogics said in

Facebook Korea said Thursday that it has filed an administrative suit against South Korea’s media regulator’s decision to fine the social networking giant for causing a network slowdown that inconvenienced local users.The social networking giant said it filed the suit against the Korea Communications Commission with the Seoul Administrative Court on May 13. It has also asked for a court order to freeze the execution of the penalty until a ruling is reached. The move comes after the KCC issued Fa