The National Cancer Center said Wednesday it has signed a materials transfer agreement with Canada’s Applied Biological Material (ABM), to provide the latter with independently developed cancer cell line that concerns the protein CD44v8-10.The transfer agreement will allow the Vancouver, Canada-based ABM to access research materials for the cancer cell line and supply it to researchers aro
GlaxoSmithKline said Thursday that it snagged approvals from both European and Japanese regulatory bodies for its shingles vaccine Shingrix to be used as a preventive measure for those over 50 years of age.Shingrix protects against shingles, a viral infection characterized by painful and blistering rashes, and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is a complication that occurs after a shingles i
Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Thursday that it added an eight-story information and communications technology (ICT)-based “smart plant” to its Paltan industrial complex in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.The new plant opening is part of Hanmi’s efforts to solidify its leadership as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) internationally. Visitors may view the manufacturing process
The Severance Hospital has published a new study result, which showed the golden time for performing endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in acute ischemic stroke patients is 10 hours.Research teams from 16 hospitals across the nation, including one led by Professor Kim Byung-moon from Severance, found patients who had good cerebral blood vessel circulation could benefit from EVT for up to 10 hours
Samsung Medical Center said Tuesday that one out of 10 cancer patients sought treatment at its Comprehensive Cancer Center with data showing that those who did had a higher chance of living longer.The 118,000-square meter hospital, located in Gangnam, southern Seoul, reported that more patients sought treatment after getting diagnosed or treated at other domestic hospitals.Hospital data sp
Samsung Medical Center (SMC) said Monday that it would hold various events for its patients to commemorate the 10th anniversary of opening its Samsung Comprehensive Cancer Center.“We were able to celebrate the 10th-anniversary thanks to the love and support we received from our patients,” said Nam Seok-jin, director of the cancer hospital. “We will work to create a hospital by further contempl
Walking over to the law office of Oh & Son through the bustling streets of downtown Seoul, CEO Han Hyeong-tae of Human High Tech casually explained how he brought KrioRus, a cryonics service provider, to Korea. Initial contracts with the Russian company seemed to be no less casual. “During the talks, I didn’t get to see them in person, but we talked online. We signed a five-year contract in N
Roche Korea (CEO: Matt Sause) said Wednesday that the country’s first anti PD-L1 immunotherapy Tecentriq (atezolizumab) snagged national reimbursement in January as a second-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer and recurring urothelial cancer.The drug also won approval as a first-line therapy for a type of urothelial cancer last week, company officials said at a news conference in Seo
Merck Biopharma Korea said that its coronary heart disease drug Concor (bisoprolol fumarate) proved safe and efficient decreasing the number of cardiac events in Asian patients.Results from the real world BISO-CAD trial conducted on 866 Asian patients with coronary heart disease at 42 institutions cross China, Korea, and Vietnam for nearly five years was recently published in the February edit
Domestic companies are rolling out developments on stem cell treatments, leading to rising speculation on which will be the first to be approved this year.Pharmicell’s Hearticellgram-AMI snagged the first domestic approval in 2011, followed by Medipost’s CARTISTEM and Anterogen’s ALLO-ASC-DFU gaining the nod in 2012, and Corestem’s Neuronata R Injection getting approved in 2014.
Medical staff from Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) and Korean robotics firm Curexo signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Monday to develop a next-generational surgical robot. The two organizations will cooperate in the field of research and development and introduce medical robots in a variety of areas including that of neurosurgery and rehabilitation medicine, YUHS said
Novartis Korea said Monday that the National Center for Biotechnology Information published a new guideline that recommended its chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) treatment Xolair for patients who do not respond to antihistamines.The guideline, drafted by four major allergy associations -- the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Global Allergy and Asthma European
Contrary to general expectations, Korean physicians working at small- to medium-sized hospitals and medical clinics earned up to 30 percent, or $55,000, more than doctors working at the country’s most renowned Big-Five hospitals, by raking in an average of $235,000 a year.An average Korean doctor made around 156 million won ($146,000) a year with their salary increasing with age, according to
Concerns over the side effects of acetaminophen products, including Tylenol Extended Release (ER), have been growing in Korea following the European Commission (EC) suspending their marketing licenses.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) Tuesday said it is considering whether to stop marketing authorization of the drug, distributing safety letters on the risk of acetaminophen overdose f
Korea’s National Cancer Center (NCC) said that the first Korea-China-Japan joint workshop on cancer control and translational biomedical research would open in Beijing Friday.Officials, researchers, and doctors from the three medical institutions designated as the countries’ cancer hospitals will attend the workshop, marking the first such event to be held between the three hospitals, an NCC o
Amid the ongoing discussions on whether to include lung cancer screenings into the “national cancer project,” new survey results are showing that an overwhelming majority of lung cancer specialists believe it should.The national cancer project, which provides free examinations for several cancers, including that of the stomach and breast, does not cover lung cancer screenings. The government
Korea and Italy will hold a bilateral symposium on human microbiomes on the sidelines of the International 2018 BIO KOREA convention at COEX in Gangnam on May 10."The workshop on human microbiome is a further step in the bilateral cooperation on biomedicine managed by the Italian Embassy," said Professor Francesco Canganella, head of the Science and Technology Office from the Embassy of Italy.
The Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital said Wednesday that it opened a hemodialysis vascular center that specializes in treating patients undergoing hemodialysis.Hemodialysis, commonly called kidney dialysis, is a process that filters, cleans, and returns blood of a person whose kidneys are not working correctly and cannot remove waste. Patients with end-stage chronic renal
Baxter Korea said that it launched its new automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) system, Homechoice Claria, for patients with chronic kidney disease Monday.The device is for patients who need to get peritoneal dialysis, a renal replacement therapy performed by individuals at home. The device, touted as the smallest of all the APD systems in Korea, automates the peritoneal dialysis process, accor
Professors and medical workers at the National Cancer Center celebrated completing 600 cases of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) at the hospital Monday. HSCT is a method to treat patients with blood cancers such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and malignant lymphoma by removing cancer cells through chemotherapy or irradiation and replacing them with new hematopoietic st