The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it ended the monitoring of cold medicines on Monday because the shortage of such drugs has been resolved.ministry’s drug management division sent a letter to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA), saying the government wou
With Covid-19 cases back on the rise, the government said it would enhance the nation's quarantine system to prepare for a possible summer resurge.Health officials said they decided to secure more hospital beds for Covid-19 patients and those requiring special treatments such as childbirth and dialy
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) designated four substances including 1V-LSD as narcotics temporarily for three years. The four are being used as substitutes for narcotics.The regulator put 1V-LSD in Class 1 temporary narcotics, and CH-PIATA, Class 2 temporary narcotics.1V-LSD has a struc
In Korea, the obesity treatment Qsymia (ingredient: phentermine, topiramate) is banned for people aged 16 or younger because one of the ingredients, phentermine, is classified as a narcotic.In the U.S., however, the FDA approved Qsymia in patients aged 12 years and older with obesity.The FDA recentl
Amid the ongoing rebound of new virus cases, alarm bells ringing in various corners of society herald an earlier-than-expected summer resurge. The quarantine authorities warned that if another wave comes this summer, the daily virus tally could reach 200,000.Korea added 6,253 Covid-19 infections on
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe V. Wade ending the constitutional right to abortion on June 24, attention is on how the ruling will impact prescriptions of abortion-inducing medications.Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 that recognized women’s “right
The government has unified the names of all medical institutions that provide treatment for Covid-19 as "Respiratory Patient Treatment Center" as of Friday.Among the 12,601 Respiratory Patient Treatment Centers secured by quarantine officials, the government designated 6,206 "one-stop" Covid-19 trea
Korea ranked first in the “Covid Resilience Ranking," an index evaluated by Bloomberg, a U.S. media company, on which country is the best to live in during the Covid-19 pandemic.Bloomberg has published the rankings of 53 countries every month since November 2020, when the world reported the first Co
Various experts in the Asia-Pacific region are now stressing the need to focus on routine care as the Covid-19 pandemic enters an endemic phase."A return to routine care is urgently needed to prevent non-Covid-19-related deaths," Professor Ivan Hung, chief of the Infectious Disease Division at the U
Revlimid maintenance therapy to treat multiple myeloma (MM) passed the health insurance review agency’s reimbursement review four years after winning the license in Korea.The review committee also expanded the reimbursement criteria for immunotherapy Opdivo (nivolumab), which obtained broadened indi
The RIGHT (Research Investment for Global Health Technology) Fund said Thursday that it opened this year’s first request for proposals for Product Development Award (PDA) and Evidence Generation Award (EGA).It would receive them until Aug. 16.Both awards are research grants to support infectious dis
SK Bioscience said Wednesday that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the use of SKYCovione, the country's first homegrown Covid-19 vaccine.SKYCovione has applied GSK's immune enhancer AS03 to strengthen immune response and induce high levels of neutralizing antibodies, the company said. S
The government said Wednesday that Korea has confirmed more than 10,000 daily Covid-19 cases for the first time in 20 days.The country added 10,463 new Covid-19 infections, including 205 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,349,756, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)
The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s health insurance policy committee set the reimbursement price of Fexuclue (fexuprazan), a treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) developed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical, at 939 won ($0.73) per tablet. Fexuclue is the nation’s 34th novel drug.At a meeti
With few days left until the authorization of Korea’s first homegrown Covid-19 vaccine SKYCovione, the Korean regulatory agency’s enhanced review capabilities are drawing attention.In a meeting with healthcare news reporters on Tuesday, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation (NIFDS) D
Health officials said the declining trend of Covid-19 has reached its limit, predicting new infections might likely rebound in the short run."We think that the decline in the spread of Covid-19 of the past few weeks has reached its limit," said Im Sook-young, a senior official at the Central Disease
Korea’s new Covid-19 cases hit the lowest level in five-and-a-half months on Monday. However, experts warned a possible resurge this summer could be worse than last year’s, noting the nation has lifted almost all restrictions.The nation’s new virus cases fell below 3,500 on Monday as the Covid-19 pa
The number of medical tourists visiting Korea expanded 24.6 percent year-on-year in 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, government data showed.However, foreign patients seeking dermatology care decreased, and the proportion of medical tourists visiting the Seoul metropolitan area also fell last yea
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety released the results of the expert review on SK Bioscience’s SKYCovione (pipeline name: GBP510), the nation’s first homegrown Covid-19 vaccine, and said the data was sufficient to confirm approval.However, some criticized the government, saying it unfairly and pr
The declining pace of Covid-19 cases has slowed somewhat in Korea due partly to the largest inflows from abroad since March, quarantine officials said Friday.Among the 7,227 newly confirmed cases on Friday, 111 cases – 71 Koreans and 40 foreigners -- came from abroad, an increase of 19 from the prev