Sanofi Pasteur Korea said its four-strain influenza vaccine VaxigripTetra, for six-month-old children and older, would be effective to prevent influenza in the upcoming flu season.The drugmaker obtained an expanded indication from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for the quadrivalent vaccine to be used on infants aged six months or older, instead of the children aged 36 months or older as
Korean pharmaceutical and biotech shares are expected to have an upward trend with global academic meetings planned from September, an analyst said.Although stock prices in the pharma sector have recently fallen amid growing uncertainties over drug companies’ capitalizing R&D costs, they will start to pick up with favorable prospects for the results of trials on various pipelines, the analyst
Chong Kun Dang Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chong Kun Dang, topped the local sales of functional foods in the first half of this year, industry data showed.The second place went to Dongkook Pharmaceutical’s brand Nature’s Vitamin Shop, followed by Sanofi-Aventis Korea’s Cenovis.According to Nielsen Korea’s data on the distribution channels except for pharmacies, brands of Chung Kun Dang, Do
Merz said its botulinum toxin product Xeomin showed the lowest level of inactivated neurotoxins, known as one of the causes of antibody formation, in a study that compared five botulinum toxins. The study measured the levels of neurotoxins in five products, based on 100 units per vial.The results showed that the five treatments contained different levels of inactivated neurotoxins, with Xe
Gilead Sciences Korea’s Genvoya has solidified its No. 1 status in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment market.After a successful switching from Stribild to Genvoya, Genvoya’s revenue outperformed that of GSK’s Triumeq starting from the second half of last year. In the first half of this year, Genvoya also topped the HIV drug sales.According to IQVIA data, the sales gap between
GSK Korea, Janssen Korea and Astellas Pharma Korea refused to adopt ISO 37001, an international anti-corruption management system to be introduced by Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) in multiple phases.In October 2016, the International Organization for Standardization with 162 member countries established ISO 37001 to prevent illegal rebates and organizational c
Novartis Korea and Galderma Korea will have new foreign CEOs next month.Novartis has appointed Joshi Venugopal as the new head of its Korean offshoot, and Galderma, Rene Wipperich, respectively.Novartis Korea has been under the leadership of acting CEO Klaus Ribbe, who was dispatched from the headquarters in Switzerland in April 2016. The incoming head will also serve as acting CEO, the co
The pharmaceutical industry is raising concerns over the government’s plan to implement a “selective pharmaceutical benefits system,” claiming that the scheme might be another way to force drug price cuts. As part of the measures to enhance health insurance coverage, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is to implement the selective pharmaceutical benefits system in multiple phases by 2022 to al
Korea is catching up with Japan in the Internet of Things (IoT) patents in healthcare around the world, a report said Thursday.The U.S. is still leading the IoT-related patents in the healthcare industry and expected to solidify its leadership, it said.The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) published the report titled, “Analysis on Fourth Industr
“Please insert ‘severe’ in front of ‘acute pancreatitis’ in the headline and the main body of your English article.”Such request came from Samsung Bioepis to Korea Biomedical Review (KBR), the healthcare-focused English news outlet and the sister paper of the vernacular Korean Doctors’ Weekly. On Monday, the company released a press release announcing that it gained U.S. approval f
Amid forecasts that the obesity therapy market will rapidly grow, local researchers have increasingly registered patents related to the treatment of obesity. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) said it has granted more than six obesity-targeting patents in August.Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) registered the patent on “Compositions for Preventing
Korea’s Samsung Bioepis and Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical have teamed up to begin a global clinical trial on a new drug candidate to treat severe acute pancreatitis.The two companies recently obtained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a candidate substance called SB26, an ulinastatin-Fc fusion protein.According to Market Research Future, the acute pancreatitis tre
The shares of diagnostics, equipment, reagent and clinical agent companies are on a downward spiral amid the recent weakness of the pharmaceutical biotech stocks.Among Korea’s 23 major diagnostics, equipment, reagent and clinical agent companies, the share price of only five companies are hovering above those of early this year, according to this paper’s survey. Biotoxtech, a non-cli
Bayer Korea’s liver cancer therapy Stivarga (regorafenib) is expected to strengthen its position in the field. The drug is the only second-line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma patients who progressed after first-line treatment with Nexavar (sorafenib).Stivarga is proved to achieve an overall survival improvement in patients according to the Phase 3 RESORCE clinical trial results of the
With pharmaceutical and medical device stocks tumbling in Seoul, share prices of those that went public this year have also plunged.Pharmaceutical firms and medical device manufacturers that had initial public offering (IPO) this year include Arlico Pharm (listed on Feb. 12), Dongkoo Bio & Pharma (Feb. 13), Enzychem Lifesciences (Feb. 21), Osteonic (Feb. 22), Sejong Medical (May 29), OliX Phar
A new patent for predicting chemotherapeutic effects for patients with easily recurring breast cancer is drawing attention.According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation registered the patent, titled “Apparatus and method for determining the prognosis of breast cancer and whether to use chemotherapy,” on Monday. The inven
Kolon Life Science has lost its substance patent for Invossa-K, a cell gene therapy for osteoarthritis treatment developed by its subsidiary Kolon TissueGene, in six countries in Europe due to non-payment of due fees, sources said. The treatment is the 29th locally developed novel drug.Kolon Life Science is likely to suffer a setback in the global business strategy for Invossa-K, although the
Daiichi Sankyo Korea achieved the most substantive sales growth among multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in Korea in the first half,According to U-BIST data of 19 multinationals with outpatient prescription sales exceeding 20 billion won ($17.7 million) in the first half, the Korean unit of Daiichi Sankyo’s sales surged 22.6 percent year-on-year, which was the highest among the 1
A new patent for checking antibody of norovirus is drawing attention, as there is no specific medicine to treat people with norovirus infection or prevent it.According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the Kangwon National University-Industry Cooperation Foundation received the grant for its application of the patent on “Norovirus-specific antibody and its usage” on Monday.
UCB Korea will undoubtedly lead the domestic epilepsy treatment market, its CEO said in an interview with Korea Biomedical Review.The Korean unit of the Belgium-based company gained fame with the 1993 release of the allergy medication Zyrtec. The drugmaker has strengthened its expertise in neurology by releasing blockbuster drugs such as antihistamine Xyzal in 2004 and antiepileptic drug Keppr