The global healthcare landscape is changing. Lynda Chin, an internationally renowned physician and executive director of the Real-world Education, Detection and Intervention (REDI) at the University of Texas, says an endless stream of information and continual updates in technology is changing the role of the physician.Adaption by both hospitals and physicians is the key to thriving in the wav
Researchers from Yonsei University Medical School have found a new autophagic enhancer that regulates autophagy activity, with the substance shown to have a therapeutic effect on diabetes.Autophagy refers to the phenomenon of cells destroying its contents. Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi discovered and elucidated mechanisms underlying autophagy, a fundamental process for degrading and
L&K Biomed said Wednesday it signed a supply contract with the Hong Kong branch of Union Medical Healthcare (UMH) that will help it expand its presence into China.The Korean medical device firm that specializes in spine implants said that it has been recording steady sales in the U.S. since its establishment, expanding its business area into foreign markets such as in Australia, Thailand,
Officials from Korean and Vietnamese pharmaceutical associations held talks last Tuesday to discuss the recent downgrade of Korean drug exports by the Vietnamese government.The meeting between the members of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) and of the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Companies Association (VPCA) follows the Vietnamese government revising the bidd
Korea saw its gross domestic product fall 2.71 trillion won ($2.5 billion) due to cancer in 2014. About $600 million of the GDP drop stemmed from productivity loss caused by breast cancer, a study showed.Professor Park Yeon-hee, head of Samsung Medical Center’s breast cancer center, and Park Jeong-hyun from the hospital’s treatment planning team led the study on the economic implications o
YD Life Science said it got the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s go-ahead Tuesday to start a phase 2a trial for YD-312, a therapy that treats a complication of diabetes that affects the eye called diabetic macular edema.Diabetic macular edema (DMA) refers to the accumulation of fluid in the macula, which mostly controls a person’s ability to see. The condition is often caused by diabetic re
JW Pharmaceuticals Tuesday said it discovered a novel orally available H4R antagonist class that can be used to treat atopic dermatitis, noting it would work towards developing the “promising” clinical candidate.Commonly referred to as eczema, atopic dermatitis can cause the skin to develop red, scaly and crusted bumps that are often itchy. JW’s research findings are centered on a derivate
Janssen Korea said Tuesday that it got the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s approval to receive insurance coverage for Imbruvica (ibrutinib), for patients who have reoccurring or hard-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (rrCLL).Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a type of bone marrow cancer that makes too much of a kind of white blood cell, most commonly the B cell. A total of 946 Koreans w
More and more Koreans are getting massages either at home or shops, in a country deemed to have one of the longest work hours in the world.The numbers of massage parlors and stores that sell massage equipment have increased steadily in the past few years, sprawling across metropolitan areas while the government is pushing to slash “inhumane” workhours here. Korea is notorious fo
Korean parents are by and large likely to leave children with ADHD untreated because of the stigma and labeling effect associated with the disease, according to the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.“A behavioral survey carried out at school revealed that around 5 percent of students were advised to go to a clinic for treatment but around half didn’t go,” said Professor Kwon Yo
Korean hospitals have become more than just places for treatment but as a place of research and scientific development, leading to higher cooperation between firms and medical institutions. Against this backdrop, Korea Biomedical Review is interviewing doctors renowned for pushing forward innovation in the healthcare sector particularly in regards to obtaining patents. – Ed. Dr. Joo Choun-
More than 100 Korean elementary, middle, and high school students ended their lives last year, marking the second consecutive rise in the teen suicide rate in the country, a industry group said Thursday.The Life Insurance Social Philanthropy Foundation published data accrued over the past three months as part of its campaign that aims to listen to teenagers and ultimately lower the suicide rat
Korea's medical and pharmaceutical industries have reached a global level over the past years. Such exponential growth has made the country one of the major players in the world. Against this backdrop, Korea Biomedical Review has decided to hear opinions from foreign mission chiefs here on how they view the country is doing concerning healthcare system, research & development, and international co
Researchers from Severance Hospital have found a diagnostic technique that can help predict which lung cancer patients will benefit from targeted immunotherapies, the hospital said Monday.The research team led by Cho Byoung-chul from Severance Hospital's Lung Cancer Center and Im Seock-ah from Seoul National University Hospital's Department of Internal Medicine carried out their joint research
Doctors from Samsung Medical Center recently completed the hospital’s 4,000th microvascular decompression surgery on a patient who had semi-lateral facial seizures and trigeminal neuralgia. Microvascular decompression is a surgery used to relieve abnormal compression of a cranial nerve, according to the Mayfield Brain & Spine.The hospital first completed 3,000 cases of the surge
On one of her middle school days, Lee Eun-ju saw a poster that depicted a tree bearing both tomato and a potato. While most teenagers her age would’ve just passed it by, Lee found the picture terrific and felt an urge to create something like it.So began her journey toward a stem cell researcher. Lee majored in biotechnology at Daegu University, got her masters in genetic engineering from
Sanofi Genzyme Korea, the specialty care division of the French pharmaceutical firm, said it got the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s marketing approval Friday for its atopic dermatitis treatment Dupixent (dupilumab).Dupixent is the first targeted biologic therapy for adult patients who have moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis who do not benefit from or cannot tolerate topical treatment
Researchers from the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital have become the first in the world to find an association between a mutation of the filaggrin (FLG) gene and atopic dermatitis (AD).The research team, led by professors Kim Yong-goo and Kim Myung-shin from the hospital’s Catholic Genetic Laboratory Center and Park Young-min from the department of dermatology, publi
Boehringer Ingelheim Korea said Monday that findings from a study of its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) drug Vahelva Respimat showed that it could reduce the risk of exacerbation compared to Spriva Respimat.The results were published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine on Wednesday, according to the Korean branch of the German pharmaceutical giant.COPD is a common lung dis
The National Cancer Center (NCC) said that it would complete the construction of a hospice-alleviating medical care facility within two years, providing palliative care for patients chronically or terminally ill. The new hospital affiliated with NCC will be built on 31,271 square meters and has 161 sickbeds, including 26 for those who need hospice care, and 40 for children diagnosed