Pfizer has come under fire for holding exclusive patent rights that bars competition on its pneumonia vaccine worldwide, which is being challenged in patent litigations in several countries, an aid group said Monday.Doctors Without Borders will challenge Pfizer in the High Court of Delhi in India Tuesday to overturn a patent court ruling that granted the pharmaceutical giant a “monopolistic” c
International conference “Medical Korea 2017” kicked off for a two-day run in COEX, southern Seoul, on Tuesday.Hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), Medical Korea opened for its eighth consecutive year to share the vision and direction of global healthcare and medical tourism.“We are now opening the eighth annual Medical K
Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo said Monday the government is considering how to send antiparasitic drugs to North Korea, following recent reports of a North Korean defector being riddled with intestinal worms.“We will examine measures to send antiparasitics to North Korea and report (back on findings) as the government is seriously considering ways to increase the welfare of
Hospitalists in Korea are not satisfied with their salary and employment status, a recent survey of 22 doctors working as hospitalists from a medical association showed.The survey, conducted in August to establish a basis for understanding and implementing the hospitalist system in Korea, showed hospitalists are not compensated as well as non-hospitalists, evidenced by lower salary and lack of
The North Korean defector, hit by five shots as he drove across the border, was evacuated by U.S. Army medics by helicopter after he collapsed on the southern side of the border in the truce village Monday.“If it weren't for the emergency measures (taken by the U.S. air medics), then (the patient) would have died before arriving at the hospital,” said Dr. Lee Cook-jong, the trauma specialist f
More details on the North Korean soldier who survived 40 rounds of gunfire to cross into South Korea Monday may be offering a glimpse into the lives of soldiers up North, experts say.Dr. Lee Cook-jong, the trauma specialist at Ajou University Hospital in charge of the patient, has successfully finished two rounds of surgery Wednesday, concluding the second operation by removing another bullet
The North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea through the Joint Security Area Monday is still in a critical condition, with his stomach filled with parasites, the attending doctor said Wednesday.The soldier has successfully undergone a second round of surgery at Ajou University hospital earlier in the day, which lasted for about three-and-a-half hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. He is sti
Sanofi-Aventis Korea, the local offshoot of the global healthcare company Sanofi, and two of its sister companies held a media event in southern Seoul Wednesday to discuss its progress in developing new drugs.The company discussed its pipeline while rolling out the company’s new vision as an effort to unify its employees under a single goal of supporting and protecting patients. Sanofi is
Novo Nordisk Korea has launched diabetes treatment Ryzodeg in the Korean market. Ryzodeg is the first combination insulin injection made from a 70-30 ratio of two types of insulin -- insulin degludec and insulin aspart.The 70-30 ratio of the “long-acting” insulin degludec (that controls blood glucose between meals), and the “rapid-acting” insulin aspart (that controls mealtime excursions of gl
A North Korean soldier, wounded by shots fired from the North’s patrollers as he defected through the Joint Security Area (JSA) Monday afternoon, is in a “critically ill” condition, the attending physician said Tuesday.The soldier crossed over to South Korea through the JSA in Panmunjeom at the inter-Korean border at 3:31 p.m. Monday, and was shot five to six times in the process. He sustained
A professor at Ewha Womans University told medical school students that they should “get cosmetic surgery on their face or their body to meet a good man,” according to university students who claimed anonymity.Ewha students posted the professor’s comments on a school bulletin board on campus Sunday, accusing the professor of making misogynist remarks that humiliated the all-female student popu
The government has announced new protective measures for children and teens with type-1 diabetes to ensure they get proper blood glucose checks and insulin shots during school hours.The law currently prohibits homeroom teachers from administrating medication on campus grounds, resulting in a phenomenon where diabetic children self-injecting insulin in bathroom stalls to avoid the ridicule and
Korea is now second only to Lithuania when it comes to suicide rates, breaking a 12-year streak of holding the highest suicide rate in the world, an OECD report showed last Friday. Lithuania held the highest suicide rate with 29 people out of 100,000 committing suicide, followed by Korea with 28.7 people, and the Russian Federation with 21, the report showed.Although it stepped
Janssen Korea said Monday its treatment for multiple myeloma, DARZALEX (daratumumab), gained government approval last week with trials proving the drug to extend median overall survival of cancer patients by around a year.DARZALEX can now be used as a monotherapy for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MM) patients who had treatment with at least three other therapies, including proteasom
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Monday it would investigate a private hospital on claims of forcing its nurses to wear revealing outfits and dance provocatively at a company talent competition.Nurses at the Sacred Heart Hospital of Hallym University said they had to wear risqué low-cut tops and shorts and perform a sexy dance for around 900 co-workers and management, at an annual “Il
Korean insurance policies are lagging behind the development of anticancer therapies, leaving many novel drugs without coverage and creating a population of “medical poor” citizens, an expert said.Lee Dae-ho, head of the planning committee of the Korean Association for Clinical Oncology (KACO), criticized the government policies at the 10th annual KACO meeting in downtown Seoul Friday.
Vetter Pharma, a global contract manufacturing organization (CMO) specializing in prefilled syringes, opened its local branch office in a biological cluster located in Songdo, Incheon, Thursday.Headquartered in Germany, Vetter offers services that range from clinical manufacturing to commercial supply and packaging solutions. It specializes in aseptic filling and packaging of compounds into sy
Industry insiders are busy speculating which company will pick up CJ Healthcare following its reported decision to sell the company last week, with many citing Boehringer Ingelheim, Baxter, and Boryung as the top contenders.CJ Healthcare, a division of Korean conglomerate CJ Group, has reportedly told its executives and employees last week that the company will be up for sale, putting the unit
GemVax & KAEL said Thursday it obtained first place in a competition for securing valuable patents and executing good intellectual property strategies and management, held by Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).“I am very pleased to receive this meaningful award as a company that develops new drugs,” CEO Song Hyoung-gon said. “We are committed to continual research and development of GV
Korean celebrity couples, such as Ko So-young and Jang Dong-gun, Ki Sung-yueng and Han Hye-jin, and Rain and Kim Tae-hee, have renewed public attention to cord blood banks, by storing the blood from their baby’s umbilical cord after birth.Often heralded as a form of “biological insurance” against future diseases, cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells that can be used to treat more than