ViroMed said it has confirmed that VM202, an investigational gene therapy being tested for diabetic neuropathy, inhibited pain-inducing factors and controlled inflammatory responses in an animal study.The latest test, the first to reveal the mechanism of pain reduction in diabetic neuropathy, has boosted VM202’s potential to be recognized as a disease-modifying drug (DMD), the biotech firm sai
Biotech firm Genexine’s major pipelines could be worth more than 3 trillion won ($2.78 billion) at the current value, an analyst said Monday.Kang Ha-young, a research analyst at KTB Investment & Securities, said the company’s investigational drug GX-H9 (long-acting growth hormone) was worth 333.2 billion won, HyLeukin (an immunotherapy), 916.2 billion won, Papitrol-188 (cervical cancer treatme
The government has changed its approval for the efficacy and safety of Saxenda (ingredient: liraglutide), an obesity treatment by Novo Nordisk Korea.Citing Saxenda’s long-term clinical trials SCALE and LEADER, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recently removed the label that the drug’s effectiveness lasts for a year.According to Novo Nordisk Korea, the regulator deleted the statemen
CG Bio said it has won a nod from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to manufacture artificial cheekbones based on 3D printing.The customized artificial cheekbones use 3D printing techniques on BGS-7, a bioactive glass material developed and patented by CG Bio.Unlike polymers or metals, BGS-7 directly bonds with bones when transplanted into a human body.BGS-7 makes stronger bonds wit
Rumors are circulating in the pharmaceutical industry that Park Ki-hwan, CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim Korea, was recently forced by the headquarters to resign due to the Korean unit’s poor earnings and the management’s conflicts with the labor union. Park stepped down from the post as of March 31, although his term was left until Sept. 30. As Park’s next move is unknown, the industry is rum
South Korea’s exports of pharmaceutical products expanded 30 percent in January and February from a year earlier, government data showed Thursday.According to data from the Korea Customs Service, exports of pharmaceutical products under the HS Code 30 amounted to $398.6 million in the first two months of this year, up 30.6 percent ($93.4 million) from the same period of last year.During th
Invossa, gene therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee, has shown promising results in a domestic clinical trial, Kolon Life Science said Wednesday. The company is seeking a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOAD) designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for, through a global phase-3 trial.The biotech firm said it presented Invossa’s efficacy, shown in the two-year observatio
Prescriptions of anticancer drugs surged in January compared to a year earlier, government data showed Tuesday.According to data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), the claims for prescribed drugs to treat malignant tumors reached 117.1 billion won ($108.9 million) in January, up 89.53 billion won from 27.6 billion won in the same period of last year.In the same
Bristol-Myers Squibb Korea Pharmaceutical and Ono Pharma Korea said their cancer immunotherapy Opdivo obtained additional approval for gastric cancer on Friday, increasing the number of indications from seven to eight.Following the green light, Opdivo can be used as a treatment for recurrent or advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma after two or more previous chemothera
Shares of biotech firms specializing in stem cell therapies are performing well on KOSDAQ, despite the latest plunge of Cha Biotech, one of the promising biotech stocks.On Monday, stem cell therapy-related firms, including Corestem, Medipost, and Kangstem Biotech, saw their stock prices increase from the previous trading day. Their shares used to move along with Cha Biotech as they are grouped
Among KOSDAQ-listed pharmaceutical companies, four firms’ operating profits turned from black to red last year, according to each company’s disclosed financial data. The four are TissueGene, Kolon Life Science, Prostemics, and JW Shinyak.Under the financial regulation, listed firms whose revenue or profit structure changed more than 30 percent (15 percent for large-scale corporations) should d
Foreign investors net purchased shares of SillaJen and Samsung BioLogics, and net sold Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare, in March, data showed Tuesday.Among the secondary KOSDAQ shares, SillaJen ranked first in the list of healthcare-related shares net purchased by foreign investors this month. The drugmaker is expected to announce clinical trials results of oncolytic virus treatment Pexa-Ve
Cancer immunotherapy Opdivo has become a new growth engine for Bristol-Myers Squibb Korea Pharmaceutical, following the patent expiration of anticancer drug Taxol, antithrombotic Plavix (Sanofi-Aventis Korea having the sales license), and hepatitis B treatment Baraclude.BMS Korea said it would enhance its leadership in the cancer immunotherapy market by concentrating on the studies of Opdivo
Cloud service providers that help hospitals manage electronic medical records (EMR) in the cloud will gain attention amid the rising demand for such service this year, an analyst report said Monday.Since Aug. 6, 2016, the Ministry of Health and Welfare allowed hospitals to store and manage patient records outside of the institution under the rules and regulations of the Medical Service Act, re
Amid the nationwide spread of “Me Too” movement, a former employee of Janssen Korea has revealed her experience of sexual abuse by senior workers and client doctors during her seven-year time at the multinational drugmaker.Started off by Prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun’s revelation of her experience of sexual harassment by a former Justice Ministry senior official, the movement is expanding to all area
The pharmaceutical industry is paying keen attention whether Jointstem, a stem cell therapy for degenerative arthritis, will obtain regulatory approval to compete against Kolon Life Science’s Invossa.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s central pharmaceutical affairs council said it would review giving conditional approval for Jointstem as a cell therapy at its subdivision meeting for clinic
Samsung BioLogics, which enjoyed more than 50 percent revenue growth in the fourth quarter alone, is expected to record more than 600 billion won ($558 million) in sales this year, an analyst report said.Seo Geun-hee and Lee Ji-su, analysts at KB Securities, said in the report that Samsung BioLogicsw’s annual sales are forecast to reach 627.5 billion won in 2018, up 36.5 percent compared to th
Korean researchers have found a diagnostic biomarker for type 2 diabetes by analyzing proteins extracted from human bodies.The Korean Intellectual Property Office registered the patent on Feb. 27, “Protein Biomarker for Early Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes,” invented by Choi Sung-hee at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital’s internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism department, and P
The Korean government has invested a total of 1.96 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in new drug development in the past seven years, and 10 percent of them went to the biotech industry, an industry report showed.The report by the Korea Institute of Science & Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) analyzed where the government’s investment in research and development (R&D) of novel drugs went b
Korea should standardize genome data to cope with the growing demand for genetic analysis and precision medicine, an industry report said.The report by the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization’s Bio-economy Research Center said so, after analyzing the global trends in standardizing genome data.“To realize personalized medicine or precision medicine through genetic testing, testing res