Samsung Bioepis has become the first company to secure Europe’s backing of its copy of Roche’s blockbuster breast cancer therapy Herceptin, marking a milestone for the South Korean drugmaker, which specializes in making cheaper copies of complex biologic drugs known as biosimilars.　The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use on Friday recommended the approval of Samsung’s Herceptin-referencing biosimilar Ontruzant. It is the first biosimilar copy of Herceptin t

SK Holdings, the parent company of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, will be making its way to the US this week to meet with global institutional investors as it seeks new capital to fund its strategic investment activities.Top executives from SK Holdings, including its CEO Jang Dong-hyun, will be holding a four-day non-deal roadshow in major US cities including New York and Boston starting from Monday, with Credit Suisses as the lead manager, the company said.The SK Group headq

Naver CEO Han Seong-sook apologized on behalf of the company for providing favors to the children of South Korea’s top legal officials including the daughter of former Senior Prosecutor Jin Kyung-joon, who is currently serving jail time for accepting bribes.　Naver shared a public apology from the incumbent CEO on its official blog Naver Diary following news reports that the company had unfairly provided favors and opportunities to Jin’s daughter.“Naver provided unofficial favors such as a free p

The United Nations Security Council holds vote on sanctions resolution against North Korea at United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday. (EPA-Yonhap)진행자: 손지영, Paul Kerry1. 유엔 안보리 대북 제제 결의… 실효성 논란 가열기사요약: 유엔 안전보장이사회가 북한의 6차 핵실험에 따른 새로운 제재 결의안을 채택했다. 대북 유류 공급 축소, 북한 인민무력부장 제재, 외화벌이 노동자 규제 등의 조항들이 포함되어있지만, 이러한 제재들이 갖는 실효성에 대한 의견이 엇갈리고 있다.아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638 Sanctions draw mixed

South Korea’s two biggest IT companies are ramping up efforts to achieve more preorders for their artificial intelligence-powered smart speakers that are slated to hit shelves here soon, with aims to dominate the nascent market. Naver, the operator of Korea’s biggest portal website, and Kakao, which runs the country’s most widely used mobile messenger KakaoTalk, are slated to launch voice-activated standalone speakers here in the coming months.Globally, the smart speaker market is dominated by f

TissueGene, a US-based biotechnology subsidiary of South Korea’s Kolon Group, said Tuesday that it had won a new clinical grant from Maryland for its novel cell gene therapy for degenerative arthritis, Invossa. The company has been awarded a $750,000 clinical grant from Maryland Technology Development Corp. via the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund.　The new grant will be used by TissueGene to fund a portion of its US-based phase three clinical trials for Invossa. The clinical study aims to verify

The chief of South Korea’s antitrust watchdog, who built his reputation as a “chaebol sniper,” is facing flak from local IT industry leaders after calling Naver founder Lee Hae-jin a figure who “lacks vision for the future,” unlike Apple founder Steve Jobs. 　　Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Sang-jo criticized the Naver founder, who he had recently met over the Korean internet giant’s listing on a new corporate watch list, in a recent interview with local newspaper Kookmin Ilbo. 　“A company of

The US Food and Drug Administration’s first approval of a CAR-T cell therapy is raising market expectations for South Korean biotech ventures that are currently working to develop similar cellular immunotherapy drugs for cancer.　On Aug. 30, the US drug regulator approved Novartis’ Kymriah, a CAR-T cell therapy that genetically alters a patient’s own immune cells into a “living drug” that is trained to recognize and attack cancer cells in the blood.It is the first CAR-T -- short for chimeric anti

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 12th installment. - Ed.One of the most common yet underdiagnosed diseases affecting older adults is atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heart rhythm that can cause blood clots, leading to potentially fatal complications including heart failure or a stroke.Some 150 million people worldwide are said to be s

Medytox, South Korea’s largest maker of wrinkle-fighting botulinum toxin treatments, has launched its first TV commercial created under the theme of “Studying Time of Mankind”The ad features Korean actor Lee Seo-jin posing within the valleys of Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley in western US. It aims to encapsulate the beauty of nature formed over billions of years.Medytox said it hoped to embody in the ad its vision to grow into a lasting biopharmaceutical company representing Korea in the gl

Seventy-four percent of doctors in South Korea take brands into account when prescribing drugs to patients, a report analyzing behavior and perceptions in the country’s medical sector showed Thursday.　 The report was compiled by the Seoul-based medical industry research firm Medigate, which surveyed 1,000 doctors nationwide about their prescription decisions as well as perceptions of 20 Korean pharmaceutical companies with the highest revenues in 2016. Medigate found that 74 percent of the respo

SK holdings C&C, the internet technology solutions unit of South Korea’s SK Group, on Wednesday officially launched Aibril, the Korean language version of IBM’s artificially intelligent cognitive data computing platform Watson.Aibril, developed jointly by SK holdings C&C and IBM under an exclusive partnership, offers Watson’s AI computing capabilities in Korean. Models introduce a smart chatbot developed based on SK holdings C&C’s AI-based cognitive computing platform Aibril during a launch even

BAYER KICKS OFF STARTUP PROGRAM -- German pharmaceutical giant Bayer kicked off Tuesday its Grants4Apps Accelerator program, which aims to support innovative digital health care startups worldwide. This year, the company selected four startups to receive 50,000 euros ($59,400) in funding and mentorship from the Bayer headquarters on business development and strategizing. This included South Korea’s Sky Labs, which developed a heart rhythm detection wearable device to monitor signs of atrial fibr

Samsung SDS, the internet technology solutions arm of South Korea’s Samsung Group, on Tuesday launched its new artificial intelligence platform for enterprises Brity, joining the global race to develop AI-powered solutions to enhance workflow efficiency.Brity is a conversational AI assistant, or a chatbot solution, which understands and processes natural language. It can converse with users in both written and spoken form to respond to different requests as needed. 　Powered by deep learning algo

Naver expressed regrets Monday over the South Korean antitrust watchdog’s decision to add the company as well as its founder Lee Hae-jin to a new corporate watch list, citing plans to review legal actions to challenge the FTC’s interpretation. 　South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission on Sunday designated Korea’s biggest portal website operator Naver as a “large corporation” with founder Lee as its effective owner, a move which requires the Korean internet giant and Lee to follow new antitrust regula

TissueGene, the US-based biotechnology subsidiary of South Korea’s Kolon Group, has received the green light from the local bourse regulator to begin its public listing procedures on the Kosdaq.　The Korea Exchange announced Thursday it has approved TissueGene’s preliminary application for listing on the Kosdaq, kick-starting the firm’s initial public offering process.The news prompted shares of Kospi-traded Kolon to surge by 5.27 percent from the previous day to close at 69,900 won ($62.30) on F

German display materials maker Merck on Friday unveiled a new textile facade concept combining organic photovoltaics and organic light-emitting diodes technologies at the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. The facade concept was prepared by Merck in partnership with OledWorks, OPVIUS and South Korean chemicals company Kolon. German architects Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Muller as well as New York-based Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija designed the work as part of their ongoing project cal

A majority of those who play free mobile games turned out to be indifferent to in-app adds in the form of banners or videos, considering the benefits earned in exchange of watching them, according to an industry report.Around 73 percent of gamers are happy with the ad-funded model of mobile app games, according to the “Mobile Games Research 2017” report from London-based market research firm 2VC, commissioned by the Facebook Audience Network.The report was based on more than 6,000 online intervi

Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the strategic venture arm of the US health care company, is looking to recruit promising health care and biopharma technology startups in South Korea to its inaugural venture acceleration program.J&J Innovation Asia Pacific said Thursday that it had partnered with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute to launch the Seoul Innovation QuickFire Challenge.The program seeks to attract early stage innovation and solutions in

South Korea must adopt more rigorous regulations over the development, possession and management of botulinum toxin used for anti-wrinkle treatments, neurotoxin expert Eric A. Johnson has warned.　Johnson, a bacteriology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who co-developed the world’s first botulinum toxin for therapeutic and cosmetic use, said that lax regulation of botulinum toxins could hurt Korea’s global reputation in the industry.　“My understanding is that the same sort of rigo