Pharmaceutical companies expanded their employment despite the prolonging Covid-19 pandemic in the first half of this year, data showed.Notably, the number of employees at companies providing contracted manufacturing service for Covid-19 vaccines, such as Samsung Biologics and SK Bioscience, increas
Natural substance-based medicines developed by local pharmaceutical companies showed sluggish sales in the first half of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and generic drug appearances.According to UBIST, a pharmaceutical research firm, among the six natural substance drugs --Joins, Motilitone, Still
Celltrion signed the contract to acquire the exclusive sales rights of Donerion Patch, a donepezil patch product to treat the Alzheimer’s, which the company has co-developed with Icure, on Friday.Celltrion has submitted a new drug application for the drug to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for
The government expanded health insurance benefits for immunotherapy Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab) to treat renal cancer, head and neck cancer, and Hodgkin lymphoma.Opdivo, a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) blocking antibody, and Yervoy, a CTLA-4 inhibitor, were developed by BMS and O
Open innovation has become a major strategy for Korean pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs.They are increasingly going beyond the border to collaborate with foreign companies or research institutes for global open innovation.Teaming up with renowned foreign researchers could boost new drug
Seven Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies have moved into a major U.S. bio cluster in Boston, Massachusetts, to boost R&D and expand their network in the U.S.On Thursday, Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) said seven Korean drugmakers have settled in the Ca
Large pharmaceutical companies increased their investment into research and development in the first half of 2021 despite an uncertain profitability outlook due to the prolonging Covid-19 pandemic.According to semi-annual reports submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service, seven out of the top 1
Humedix said it agreed with HLB Pharma on the exclusive license use and joint research and development concerning long-acting injections for obesity treatment at its headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday.The agreement was the developed version of their memorandum of understanding s
GC Lab Cell said Thursday that it has won the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s approval for phase 1 clinical trial of CT303, a candidate substance of stem cell therapy for psoriasis.The company submitted an investigational new drug (IND) application for the trial in June.The trial is designed to a
Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Hanall Biopharma said they have invested $1 million in Alloplex Biotherapeutics, a U.S. new drug developer, to find new immunotherapy agents.The two companies plan to engage in mid- to long-term cooperation to develop Alloplex's immunotherapy treatment. Alloplex is a bio
The negotiations on retrieving the reimbursement of pharmaceutical pricing for choline alfoscerate drugs to help treat dementia between the state health insurance agency and pharmaceutical companies have been concluded except for some drugmakers.After lengthy bargaining, the National Health Insuranc
Minority shareholders of Bukwang Pharmaceutical may have had too much expectation for a Covid-19 treatment candidate that their promotion of the drug candidate went overboard.Differences in position between the company and minority shareholders over the promotion of Levovir (ingredient: clevudine) h
As the government has gradually increased reimbursement for combination drugs treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), patients’ hopes are growing for more diverse treatment options.CLL is a blood cancer that occurs when lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, grow and turn into cancer and inte
Korea’s import of pharmaceutical products approached 1 trillion won in July, hitting a record-high level.According to the Korea Customs Service, drug imports totaled about 960 billion won ($819.5 million), up 25 percent from $657.9 million in the same month of last year.Industry watchers attributed
Multinational pharmaceutical companies in Korea had a difficult time in the first half of this year, with about 70 percent of their drugs showing sales drops in the outpatient subscription market, an industry researcher said.According to UBIST, a local market research firm, out of the total 11,354 m
As the GS consortium is certain to acquire Korea's botulinum toxin (BTX) developer, Hugel, industry watchers are paying keen attention to how the acquisition would change the company and the domestic BTX and bio markets.The four-party private equity fund formed by the GS Group, also participated in
PharmaResearch said it held a symposium to launch its new regenerative medical device, Rejuran, with its Chinese partner Yxintent, in Urumqi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, on Wednesday last week.At the symposium, Ok Seul-ong, a senior researcher at PharmaResearch, and Dr. Kim Soo-rim of TATOA China in
Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors, initially developed as type-2 diabetes treatment, are expanding their indications beyond cardiovascular and renal benefits.The global SGLT-2 inhibitor market is dominated by AstraZeneca’s Forxiga (ingredient: dapagliflozin) and Boehringer Ingelheim
GC said that it has obtained product approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration of China for GreenGene F, a hemophilia treatment. The company stressed that this is the first local recombinant hemophilia treatment to receive approval in China.GC received the approval after meeting
Celltrion said that the Brazilian drug regulator granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for its Covid-19 antibody treatment, Regkirona, on Wednesday.The Brazilian food and drug safety agency, known by the acronym of ANVISA, announced that it would approve the use of Regkirona on high-risk adult p