A study conducted by the Samsung Medical Center has shown that the prevalence of hearing loss varies according to socioeconomic factors such as sex, education, income, as well as age, the hospital said Thursday. A research team led by Professor Cho Yang-seon조양선 of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology investigated the prevalence of hearing loss in 18,545 people over the age of 12 based on the
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) said Thursday that Drs. Kwon Ik-chan and Kim Kwang-myung of its Biomedical Research Institute were selected as the top 1 percent researchers in the world for the fourth consecutive year.Clarivate Analytics is an independent company that owns and operates a collection of subscription-based services that focuses on scientific and academic rese
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Wednesday approved Mepsevii (vestronidase alfa-vjbk) to treat pediatric and adult patients with an inherited metabolic condition called mucopolysaccharidosis type VII (MPS VII).MPS VII, traditionally known as Sly syndrome, is an uncommon, progressive condition that affects most tissues and organs and impacts less than 150 patients worldwide. The symptoms o
A 20-year-old patient who had lost all functions in her lungs received a new chance in life after both her parents sacrificed a portion of their lower lung for a successful living lung donation.The first living lung transplant in the nation has become possible thanks to the combination of the parents’ dire wishes to prolong their child’s life and medical workers’ strong will, opening the way f
Macrogen, a local biotechnology company, announced Wednesday that it has acquired the CAP (College of American Pathologists) certification in the field of diagnostic next-generation sequencing using NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) technology.CAP certification has been an evaluation program since 1961, a certification body for U.S. clinical pathology testing. The program evaluates whether the
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Fasenra (benralizumab) for the treatment of patients with severe asthma aged 12 years and older, and with an eosinophilic phenotype, AstraZeneca said Wednesday.Asthma affects 24 million individuals in the U.S., and up to 10 percent of patients have severe asthma, which may be uncontrolled despite high doses of standard-of-care asthma controlle
The Jeju National University said Tuesday it has patented the technology to produce pigs with symptoms of dementia.Professor Park Se-pil박세필 of the Jeju University Stem Cell Research Center제주대 줄기세포연구센터 said that the technology to produce cloned pigs called "JNUPIG" with three genes factors (APP, Tau, PSI) that cause Alzheimer's disease is different from other technology. The center also has obt
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it has approved Abilify MyCite (aripiprazole tablets) that has an ingestible sensor that records the medication was taken, the first drug in the U.S. with a digital ingestion tracking system. The drug is approved for the treatment of bipolar I disorder characterized by the occurrence of at least one manic or mixed episode, schizophrenia, and a
A research team led by professor Nam Seok-woo of the Catholic University of Korea has discovered that the driver genes “BANF1, PLOD3, and SF3B4” contribute to the development of early liver cancer.Liver cancer is one of the three most common carcinomas in the nation, with about 15,000 new cases occurring annually. Liver cancer is the most common cause of cancer death because it is difficult to
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) said Monday it has signed a technology transfer agreement with EuBiologics, a local biopharmaceutical company, on “how to produce strains producing immunization enhancers.”The TLR-4 agonist of this series has been mainly used for vaccine development. As the mechanism of immune regulation in the human body has been clarified, however, its app
Smoking is a major risk factor for fatal vascular diseases such as stroke or myocardial infarction. However, half of the patients suffering from these diseases are still unable to quit smoking, Samsung Medical Center삼성서울병원 (SMC) said Friday.As the recurrence rate of a stroke within the first five years since the diagnosis can be as high as 40 percent, patients who continue to smoke will push t
The prevalence of uterine leiomyomas among Korean women increased four-fold over a 12-year period, a report said Thursday.Uterine leiomyoma is benign tumors that arise from the overgrowth of smooth muscle and connective tissue in the uterus. It is the most common benign tumor in women that leads to various clinical symptoms such as pain and compression symptoms as well as infertility.The C
Konyang University Hospital said Thursday the concordance rate of gastric cancer with IBM “Watson for Oncology” stood at only 50 percent, suggesting that doctors’ treatment techniques are ahead of Watson in gastric cancer.According to a news release from the hospital, Konyang has applied Watson to 279 cancer patients since its introduction in April. The total breaks down into 142 cases of brea
Toolgen툴젠 said Wednesday that it has registered a patent on “reporter genes” used to observe the function of genome editing, in the United States.A reporter gene, often called merely a reporter, is a gene that researchers attach to a regulatory sequence of another gene of interest in bacteria, cell culture, animals or plants.This patent is a method that enables the observation of the func
MediPost has developed a next-generation culture method that can improve the stem cell disease treatment effect and production efficiency, and has obtained a patent in China, the company said Wednesday.The name of this patent is “method to culture mesenchymal stem cells,” and the new invention relates to the way to culture stem cells that have improved proliferation, viability, recovery, aging
Boryung Pharmaceuticals보령제약 said Wednesday it has signed a licensing agreement with PharmaMar, a Spanish pharmaceutical company, for Zepsyre (ingredient name: lurbinectedin), a treatment for platinum therapy resistant ovarian cancer.Boryung Pharma has exclusive rights to develop and sell Zepsyre in Korea through this contract.The drug is currently undergoing phase 3 clinical trials for
A study conducted by the Seoul National University Hospital has found the new anticoagulants are more effective than the existing ones in preventing atrial fibrillation patients with irregular heartbeats from suffering strokes, the hospital said Wednesday.A research team led by Professors Choi Eun-keun최의근 and Cha Myung-jin차명진 from the Department of Cardiology confirmed the efficacy of Dabigatr
The Korean Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness (KFPB) said Tuesday that it had provided free medical treatment in Cat Hai and Cat Ha Island, Haiphong, Vietnam.LG Display sponsored the foundation’s “light of love” outreach program from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4, and Haiphong Eye Hospital cooperated with it, it said. LG Display signed a memorandum of understanding with the KFPB and Haiphong E
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Monday granted accelerated approval for Zelboraf (ingredient: vemurafenib) to treat patients with Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD), a rare cancer of the blood.ECD is a rare slow-growing blood cancer that originates in the bone marrow and is estimated to affect 600 to 700 patients worldwide. Patients suffering from ECD have limited life expectancies because th
A group of cancer patients and their families called for AstraZeneca Korea한국아스트라제네카 and regulatory officials to quickly finish drug price negotiations for Tagrisso, a treatment for advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer, on Monday.They held the protest rally in front of the Korean office of the multinational pharmaceutical company in Songpa-gu, southeastern Seoul.The government has appr