The number of last-stage cancer patients who received emergency treatments with Riavax (ingredient: tertomotide hydrochloride) significantly rose this year, government data showed Thursday. It the nation’s 21st novel drug by Gemvax & KAEL.The government allows physicians to use an investigational drug, before the official market release, for patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses s
The pharmaceutical industry in Korea is expected to suffer sales declines in the second half amid tax investigations into some firms.Drug companies are bracing for a drop in sales as patients tend to shun hospital visits due to the recent confirmation of the first Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) case in three years. The upcoming national holiday of Chuseok in the last week of September
The biotech industry is paying close attention to how the recent controversy over ToolGen’s gene editing patents will unfold.On Friday, the vernacular Hankyoreh newspaper reported that Kim Jin-soo, former Seoul National University (SNU) professor, allegedly diverted patents for gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to ToolGen. The report claimed that Kim did not file the SNU’s name when registering th
Pharmaceuticals and biotech businesses are gathering renewed attention after the nation was hit by the first Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in three years.During the last MERS crisis, companies that had technology or candidate materials received a large sum of investment funds.According to industry sources, the transaction volumes of stocks related to MERS have risen sinc
Sky Labs made a presentation on the effect of using a wearable device for chronic heart disease patients and related research, at the meeting of European Society of Cardiology in Munich, Germany, from Aug. 25-29. The annual meeting of ESC is the world’s largest cardiovascular congress, bringing together 31,000 healthcare professionals from 150 countries. The participants reveal 4,5
Pfizer has picked Yuhan Corp. as a partner to defense its smoking cessation therapy Champix from Korean drugmakers’ planned release of generic copies. Yuhan recently announced in a public disclosure that it would jointly promote sales of Pfizer’s Champix (ingredient: varenicline tartrate).Champix is a popular anti-smoking treatment that sold 64.9 billion won ($58.2 million) last year, accordin
Local pharmaceutical companies are striving to find a niche market by changing the formulations of existing drugs, such as switching over from injections to oral formulations, or from tablets to patches. Dongkook Pharmaceutical recently adopted a liquid compound technology for osteoporosis treatment from the Gyeonggido Business & Science Accelerator (GBSA). GBSA developed the liquid techno
A Korean drug company working on a treatment for dementia in dogs said that its investigational therapy Ropesalazine was effective in companion dogs with cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS), or dementia.GNT Pharma said its pilot clinical trial, before entering a phase 2 trial, showed that the treatment showed efficacy to protect brain cells from damage, which was “the world’s first.”Senio
Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies have won 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion) worth license-out deals with foreign firms in the past three months, dispelling concerns about a biotech bubble and accounting issues at Samsung BioLogics.Six Korean companies – CrystalGenomics, Kolon Life Science, ABL Bio, Yuhan Corp., Samsung BioLogics, and JW Pharmaceutical – have announced license-out deal
Korean drugmakers should aggressively seek to tap into Thailand’s pharmaceutical market worth more than 5 trillion won ($4.4 billion), a group of pharmaceutical companies here said.According to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA), the Thai drug market grew 7.7 percent to $5 billion in 2017 from a year earlier.Although there are more than 500 pharmaceutic
Korean pharmaceutical firms are agonizing over the latest code of ethics by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IFPMA) that ban promotional aids and gifts to physicians.The IFPMA’s code of ethics does not have a direct impact on local firms’ sales but the industry-wide pressure to join the global trend might make it more challenging to promote medicines, o
Pharmaceutical industry officials are continuing to complain about the financial regulator’s tightening rules on public disclosure of drugmakers and biotech firms.The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently decided that pharmaceuticals and biotech companies should elaborate details about industry-specific investment risks in their annual reports. FSS officials said that they should apply
Viagra (ingredient: sildenafil), the favored treatment for erectile dysfunction, is suffering a continued sales decline and losing out to generic copies. According to U-BIST data, Pfizer’s Viagra sold only 794 million won ($715,350) in July, down 6.7 percent from 872 million won in June. Year on year, its sales plunged 11.5 percent from 897 million won in July last year. Viagra’s revenue f
The poor earnings by botulinum toxin makers Medytox and Hugel have something to do with China’s war on smugglers, analysts said Friday.Net income of Medytox fell 11 percent to 18.2 billion won ($16.1 million) in the second quarter from 20.5 billion won a year earlier, although the revenue rose 15.8 percent to 54.9 billion won. The first-half sales also went up 29.4 percent to 113.7 billion won
Pharmaceutical and biotech industry officials are expressing discontent over the financial regulator’s plan to tighten rules on public disclosure in the third quarter.The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently said it would push to mandate drugmakers and biotech firms to elaborate details about risks mainly coming from the nature of pharmaceutical business in their annual reports.The
Tego Science is seeking to obtain insurance coverage for Kaloderm, a biological wound dressing for diabetic foot ulcers, after failing it four times. Pharmaceutical sources said the company recently submitted a request to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) to expand reimbursement conditions for the cell therapy.Kaloderm is Tego Science’s flagship product, approve
A rising star drug in the Parkinson’s disease treatment market defeated the leading medicine and ranked first in sales in the first half of the year, industry data showed Monday.According to U-BIST, a pharmaceutical market research firm, Lundbeck’s Azilect (ingredient: rasagiline) topped the outpatient prescriptions among Parkinson’s disease treatments in the first half. Azilect sold 4.6 billi
The pharmaceutical industry is having time for self-reflection, admitting that its excessive pursuit of cost cuts has caused the recent fiasco over carcinogen-containing valsartan drugs.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recently banned the sales of 174 valsartan-based hypertension treatments that contained N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a carcinogen.The prohibited drugs account for 30 p
As the global expansion of domestic botulinum toxin (BTX) products is becoming visible, pharmaceutical companies are making efforts to solve quality-related issues, especially the tolerance and safety issues. Botulinum toxins approved in Korea include Medytox’s Medy Toxin, Hugel’s Botulax and Daewoong Pharmaceuticals’ Nabota. Medytox was the frontrunner to advance into the Chinese market, and
More than 36.9 billion won worth of banned antihypertensive drugs were prescribed last year, according to reports. N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a carcinogen, was detected in locally produced antihypertensive medicines containing valsartan, and 59 items were suspended for manufacturing and sales. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced the research results soon after NDMA was detected