South Korea's drug safety agency said Friday that it has begun reviewing a plasma therapy treatment against the novel coronavirus by local biotech company GC Pharma for conditional approval. The plasma therapy, dubbed GC5131A, is a type of hyperimmune globulin drug that uses blood plasma taken from people who have fully recovered from COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. If approved, the investigative drug will be the country's first blood plasma cure for the deadly d

If vaccines other than AstraZeneca’s are available for young people, South Korean health authorities may want to consider an alternative, said Dr. Jean-Louis Excler, a vaccinologist at the International Vaccine Institute, as more countries limit the use of the vaccine to older people over blood clot concerns. Excler, who is also part of the vaccine safety working group within COVAX, a global body that promotes equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, said in an interview with The Korea He

Head of state-run support program talks opportunities, challenges facing local firms trying to introduce new approaches to treat diseases

South Korea’s top hematologist says Korea must exercise due caution with AstraZeneca vaccinations until there is a better understanding of the unusual blood clot events being reported here and elsewhere among recipients. “By caution I don’t mean vaccinations should stop, not when we don’t have other vaccines in stock. But we need to proactively monitor people receiving the vaccine and treat any suspected symptoms as though they are a blood clot case,” said Dr. Ki

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Ex-KCDC chief makes case for protecting socially vulnerable to fight COVID-19 better

Young people in South Korea eat too much sugar from processed food, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday, citing the World Health Organization’s recommendations. Using data from a health and nutrition survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the Food Ministry looked into the daily sugar consumption patterns of some 7,000 Koreans in 2018. The daily sugar intake from processed food accounted for 10.1 percent of total calories for children aged 3

A kitten became the first pet to be confirmed infected with the novel coronavirus in South Korea on Sunday. The authorities tested three cats -- a mother and her two kittens -- at a prayer house in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, after both of their owners were diagnosed with the disease and had to be taken elsewhere for care. The kitten is now at a pet hotel and being cared for by an animal protection agency, alongside its mother and littermate, an Agriculture Ministry official told

Almost a year into the pandemic, former COVID-19 patients are reporting symptoms that persist well beyond the course of their recovery -- a phenomenon also known as “long COVID.” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook said over the weekend that pulmonary fibrosis, or lung scarring, had been observed in seven people within a group of 40 recovered COVID-19 patients. All of them were in their 40s or older. “Decline in lung function, breathles

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This interview is the second installment in a three-part series in conversations with the former directors of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- now the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency -- as the country looks back on a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. -- Ed. A former head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says South Korea weathered the novel coronavirus relatively unscathed in the initial stages, but that the winter serves as a reminder of

Study highlights need for research and intervention to slow decline, researchers say

‘No patient should die in wait for treatment,’ says ex-chief of Korea CDC

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Celim Biotech’s brand Atomu won a patent award in the Household and Cosmetics category at the 14th Korea Excellent Patent Award held December 2020. The Korea Excellent Patent Award was hosted by Hankook Ilbo and sponsored by the Korea Institute of Patent Information and Korea Intellectual Property Strategy Agency, to promote domestic patent technology and foster products and companies, eventually securing competitiveness in the market. Around 400 companies have applied for the competit