Roche Diagnostics Korea said Thursday that its cobas EGFR Mutation Test for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who cannot get a biopsy began to receive insurance benefits on May 1.The reimbursement will lower the burden of a tissue biopsy and drastically lower the cost of the examination by letting eligible patients pay only 5 percent of the total cost, the company said.
GSK Korea said Thursday that an entire family can now use its Fluarix Tetra quadrivalent flu influenza vaccine, as the government had approved its use for infants between 6 months and 3 years old.Flu influenza is an acute virus infection that spreads quickly and can lead to moderate to severe disease and even death. The condition includes symptoms such as chills, cough, headache, muscle pain,
The advent of artificial intelligence and big data is fundamentally changing the way industries operate. In healthcare, the changes have been slow but remain imperative for both physicians and patients who need to provide and receive better care.Digital technology is coming to sweep the healthcare industry, and it is going to profoundly affect the way physicians treat and interact with patient
A researcher from Severance Hospital recently published study results, which called for a mandatory, national hepatitis C antibody test to cut down the deaths related to liver disease.Professor Kim Do-young from the hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology presented the results at The Liver Week 2018 in Seoul Wednesday.Kim said if the government fails to include hepatitis C antibody t
Combination treatment has become one of the hottest trends for immunotherapies in treating various types of cancer, according to members of a Korean cancer group.The Korean Cancer Study Group held a news conference Wednesday, to present clinical results introduced at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, U.S., last week. “ASCO was attended by 39,000 people
A research team presented findings from a randomized controlled trial that evaluated the efficacy of a combination therapy comprising Baraclude (ingredient: entecavir), pegylated interferon alfa-2a, and a hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine.The findings of the E+VIP study, which were presented at The Liver Week 2018 by Professors Kim Yoon-jun and Lee Jeong-hoon from Seoul National University Colle
Domestic microbiome firms such as Bifido are entering the oral care probiotics market following growing interest in the hundreds of microorganisms that live in the mouth and affect general health.Research and commercialization of beneficial bacteria in the human body are in full swing due to the interest in human microbiomes. Markets and Markets, a market research company, estimate the global
Bristol-Myers Squibb Korea said Monday that it has presented study findings from a SAINT trial, which looked at the long-term safety of its hepatitis B therapies Baraclude (ingredient: entecavir) and Viread (ingredient: tenofovir disoproxil) in treatment-naive patients.BMS Korea conducted the study to test renal toxicity in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection patients who h
The Association of Healthcare for Korean Unification published a medical treatment guideline for North Korean patients and healthcare professionals who treat North Koreans to address problem areas of treating defectors in the South. Members of the Association of Healthcare for Korean Unification spoke about how the guideline was created and its significance, at a news conferenc
The Korean Liver Cancer Association and the National Cancer Center published revised treatment guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma, at the Liver Week 2018 held at the Grand Hyatt Incheon on Friday.The guidelines include new secondary therapies while presenting recommendations for monitoring examinations and supplementary therapies.This revised guideline brought together 44 interdiscipl
Sanofi Pasteur Korea said Monday it administered three types of vaccines to South Korea’s national soccer team ahead of the 2018 Russia World Cup to protect them against five types of infectious diseases.Around 40 members, including 23 soccer players, coaches and staffs, were vaccinated against meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. The French ph
The ongoing rapprochement between the two Koreas is raising public interest in North Korean people, including the health of more than 30,000 North Korean defectors living in South Korea.The number of North Korean defectors has increased steadily since the 1990s to surpass 30,000 last year. The South Korean government has worked to enact laws supporting North Koreans to settle down in the South
New research is showing that those over 50 years old who have undergone general anesthesia have a near 30 percent higher risk of getting dementia.The study findings were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. “The study results do not mean that general anesthesia should be avoided because it is dangerous but signals the importance of evaluation and management of cognitive abiliti
UCB Korea has taken Vimpat (ingredient: lacosamide) off the Korean market after the drug recorded a 65 percent sales drop last year. The plunging sales seemed to result from the flooding of generics enjoying insurance benefits, according to local reports.Vimpat is an antiepileptic drug (AED) approved to prevent and control seizures that remains the best selling drug for epilepsy with UCB’s wor
Janssen Korea said Tuesday it got the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s approval to use Zytiga (ingredient: abiraterone acetate) as a drug to treat metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC).Prostate cancer is the second fastest growing cancer type in Korea, with the number of patients rising around 8 percent each year. Newly diagnosed mHSPC encompasses around 60 percent of prostate
Celgene Korea said Monday that it has got three additional indications for its multiple myeloma drug Revlimid (ingredient: lenalidomide) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.Revlimid will be able to be used as maintenance therapy for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who have undergone autologous stem cell transplantation as well as to treat patients with mantle cell lymphoma
She defected from North Korea 15 years ago, crossing over into China, Vietnam, and Cambodia before finally reaching and entering South Korea. The process was “relatively” trouble-free. There was one thing she had not expected, however -- the constant, reoccurring nightmares that followed her for three years. “I was never tortured or taken away in the North. I didn’t experience
Although the advent of new anticancer drugs and cutting-edge treatment has led to more people surviving cancer, a new study is pointing out that cancer survivors may be at higher risk of diabetes.Long-term survival of cancer patients in Korea has been increasing due to the advances in early diagnosis and treatment with around 1.61 million cancer patients completing or receiving anticancer ther
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday it has revised the health insurance system to deal more effectively with increasing cases of its exploitation by foreigners in the country.The changes aim to deal with a growing phenomenon known as the “healthcare dine and dash” where foreigners pay low insurance premiums and got reimbursed for expensive treatment, including cancer, and leave th
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Thursday dispelled the misconception of heat-not-burn cigarettes being healthier than ordinary cigarettes, publishing the results of an independent study done in Korea. Heat-not-burn cigarettes, which the public has often perceived as being less harmful to health than ordinary tobacco, were found to have more tar than the latter, and have the sam