Korea will likely extend – yet again -- the most rigid virus restrictions of the Level 4 social distancing scheme in the greater Seoul area as daily cases resurged to more than 2,100 cases on Thursday.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed 2,152 new virus cases, including 2
Community treatment centers (CTCs), where mild Covid-19 patients are isolated for treatment, are suffering a shortage of healthcare workers amid surging Covid-19 cases. The situation worsened to a degree where a patient at a CTC missed the timing for treatment and died.The Korean Association of Publ
inno.N and JW Life Science compete to become the nation’s largest producer of IV (intravenous) fluids.inno.N said its new plant for IV production in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, was ready to operate. On Wednesday, inno.N said its new IV manufacturing site in Osong recently obtained GMP certifi
Seoul National University College of Medicine Alzheimer's disease research team has received a large-scale research grant of about 13 billion won ($11.2 million) from the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH).The university plans to use the fund to conduct a joint research project with Indiana Uni
The significance of vaccine sovereignty is becoming increasingly important in the protracted fight against the Covid-19 pandemic due to the disruption of stable vaccine supplies and emerging variants, a report on vaccine trends said Thursday. Homegrown vaccine development and securing sufficient sup
ImmuneMed said it would present the results of a Covid-19 treatment study in Indonesia in the fourth quarter.The company plans to apply for a phase 3 trial and emergency use approval apparently in Indonesia.However, in Korea, the company is believed to have discontinued a local Covid-19 treatment tr
GC Lab Cell said Thursday that it has won the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s approval for phase 1 clinical trial of CT303, a candidate substance of stem cell therapy for psoriasis.The company submitted an investigational new drug (IND) application for the trial in June.The trial is designed to a
Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Hanall Biopharma said they have invested $1 million in Alloplex Biotherapeutics, a U.S. new drug developer, to find new immunotherapy agents.The two companies plan to engage in mid- to long-term cooperation to develop Alloplex's immunotherapy treatment. Alloplex is a bio
The government recently announced a strategy to open healthcare data and innovate AI-backed medicine, and the medical community and related industries hailed the move.In early June, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it would help secure data-based bio-health competitiveness and promote medical
The Seoul National University Hospital said Wednesday that sleep apnea patients need to consider conducting self-checks of their conditions at home amid the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic.“In Covid-19, people are hesitant to take polysomnography (PSG) that makes patients sleep outside the home to monit
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has found 2-chloroethanol (2-CE) in some packets and raw ingredients of two Korean instant noodle brands exported to Europe, which were insufficient to cause any harm.The ministry added that ethylene oxide (EO), a carcinogen, was not detected in the two i
Samsung Biologics denied speculations by an analyst that it may expand its business to new drug development through an open innovation method.Kim Hyeong-soo, an analyst at Hanwha Investment & Securities, predicted in a report Wednesday that Samsung Biologics' investment of 49.5 billion won ($42.3 mi
North Korea has conducted Covid-19 tests on about 36,000 people but reported no confirmed cases so far, the World Health Organization said Wednesday in its COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report.According to the report, 35,947 North Koreans underwent the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT
Anymedi Solution said its patient-customized surgical device that guides the resection plan during breast-conserving surgery has won innovative medical technology designation from the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaboration Agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.The company’s breas
The negotiations on retrieving the reimbursement of pharmaceutical pricing for choline alfoscerate drugs to help treat dementia between the state health insurance agency and pharmaceutical companies have been concluded except for some drugmakers.After lengthy bargaining, the National Health Insuranc
Genexine is soon to conduct a phase 2/3 trial of Covid-19 vaccine candidate GX-19N in Indonesia but has yet to register the study on ClinicalTrials.gov, a registry of global clinical trials. The company obtained Indonesian approval for the study in early July.The South Korean biotech company said th
Korean officials failed to receive a definite answer on the supply amount and timing of Moderna vaccines in a recent U.S. meeting, repeating their request to supply vaccines manufactured by Samsung Biologics to Korea first.The government has continued to send such requests to Moderna since June to l
The medical community criticized the government for inconsistent Covid-19 vaccination policy, particularly after the authorities reversed the previous position and allowed younger people to get AstraZeneca’s shots.On Tuesday, the Korean Medical Association’s Covid-19 response committee released a st
Minority shareholders of Bukwang Pharmaceutical may have had too much expectation for a Covid-19 treatment candidate that their promotion of the drug candidate went overboard.Differences in position between the company and minority shareholders over the promotion of Levovir (ingredient: clevudine) h
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients suffering from skin stiffening and organ disfunction should guard against the occurrence of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis in case they had found ANCAs through previous checks, researchers said Tuesday.Professor Lee Sang-won and Doc