SK Bioscience likely to secure vaccine supply deal from COVAX next year: report

SK Bioscience is expected to secure a large-size COVID-19 vaccine supply deal from the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility next year, a local brokerage firm said Wednesday. The possible deal will boost earnings of the South Korean pharmaceutical company, it added. GBP510, the firm’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, is a recombinant-protein vaccine funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is leading the vaccine-sharing

Sept. 15, 2021

Google fights back, says it brings W11.9tr economic benefits to Korea

Google, under fire in South Korea for allegedly abusing others with its market power, on Wednesday hit back at the criticism, arguing it contributed 11.9 trillion won ($10.25 billion) in economic benefits to Koreans last year. Holding an online press event it called “Google for Korea,” executives of the US giant cited data from global market analysis firms to tout the positive side of its presence in Korea. “Last year, YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed around 1

Sept. 15, 2021

Chip sales drive last month’s ICT exports past $20b, the best August result

South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology products in August surpassed $20 billion for the first time in 34 months, on robust sales of semiconductor products, government data showed Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the country’s outbound shipments of ICT products last month reached $20.27 billion, up 33.2 percent on-year. It was the best results ever recorded for the month of August, and second-best for any month. With that, the ICT e

Sept. 14, 2021

Google slapped with $177m in fines for abusing market power

South Korea‘s antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to fine US-based tech giant Google 207.4 billion won ($176.8 million) for abusing its market power with the Android mobile operating system. In addition to the fine, the FTC ordered Google to stop forcing device manufacturers to sign an anti-fragmentation agreement, which has prevented the manufacturers from using operating systems developed by Google’s rivals or other variants of Android. The FTC began investigating ac

Sept. 14, 2021

Kakao creates W300 billion fund, pledges to work for society

Kakao Group, the largest mobile technology business in South Korea, pledged on Tuesday to spend 300 billion won ($255.4 million) to support small businesses and the self-employed, looking to soothe growing public criticism over its rapid business expansion. Top executives of Kakao Corp. and affiliates met Monday and Tuesday to devise a package of measures for its “co-existence” with small enterprises whom critics said the mammoth platform is driving out of market, which included th

Sept. 14, 2021

[News Focus] Naver, Kakao: How icons of innovation have come under fire

It took two decades for Naver to grow from an internet portal site to a giant in e-commerce, content and mobile payment, and just one decade for Kakao to build a sprawling business empire encompassing commerce, mobility and entertainment, off its mobile messaging app. Both were praised for innovative internet and mobile technologies that changed the way Koreans work, buy and communicate, making life without their services almost impossible to imagine. But just as their dominance is further

Sept. 13, 2021

Samsung Bioepis says its trastuzumab biosimilar as safe, effective as original

South Korean pharmaceutical company Samsung Bioepis said Monday its breast cancer treatment biosimilar Ontruzant is proven to be just as safe and effective as the original drug. The Korean drugmaker conducted a follow-up study lasing five years, tracking 367 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive breast cancer. The patients received several cycles of trastuzumab biosimilar Ontruzant or the reference medicine along with chemotherapy and surgery during the period. S

Sept. 13, 2021

[Larry Corey] What we know about delta and vaccination

Sobering findings of the past few weeks have shaken both the American and scientific psyche. People have had to reassess their perceptions about the COVID-19 vaccines, and the reemergence of an epidemic many thought was over. Many of us have had to come to terms with how life can sometimes just be complicated. It’s been a scientific and emotional roller coaster. In the spring, we saw the alpha variant, which was two times more infectious than the ancestral strain. That was followed by be

Sept. 12, 2021

Kakaopay to suspend car insurance comparison service

Kakaopay, a financial unit of tech giant Kakao Corp., will suspend its car insurance comparison service later this month after providing an unauthorized brokerage service, industry sources said Friday. Kakaopay's service to help customers find the best deal among six partnered car insurers, including Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance Co. and DB Insurance, will be suspended from Sept. 25, according to the sources. The Financial Services Commission said the online program is not advertising tha

Sept. 10, 2021

FTC to keep eyes on unfair practices in e-commerce sector

Amid growing scrutiny of online giants Naver and Kakao, South Korea’s antitrust watchdog chief on Friday spoke of the need to regulate massive online platforms in order to better protect small vendors and consumers. “E-commerce platforms have brought new benefits and convenience, but concerns over side effects have newly arisen,” Joh Sung-wook, chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, said during a breakfast meeting organized by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Sept. 10, 2021

S. Korea's mRNA vaccine consortium gets two new members

Two more local companies have newly joined the “K-mRNA vaccine consortium,” a local alliance of pharmaceutical companies dedicated to co-developing and co-producing homegrown messenger RNA vaccines. The consortium, led by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, GC Pharma and ST Pharm, on Thursday announced the participation of pharmaceuticals company Dong-A ST and medical equipment and materials maker Ecell, which it said will speed up its joint research and development of COVID-19 vaccines. Dong

Sept. 9, 2021

GeneOne Life Science to begin phase 2 clinical trial of COVID-19 pill in Korea

Biotech firm GeneOne Life Science has received approval from the South Korean government to carry on with the phase 2 clinical trial of its investigational oral drug to treat COVID-19, the company said Thursday. GLS-1027 is an orally administered drug that could suppress the cytokine inflammations that lead to more serious lung diseases. Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul will lead the administration of the drug candidate for the local study. GeneOne Life Science has been conducting p

Sept. 9, 2021

[Herald Interview] KT buys UK-based Epsilon, on lookout for more

South Korea’s KT on Thursday announced the 170 billion-won ($145 million) acquisition of London-based data company Epsilon. A senior executive who led the deal told The Korea Herald that it is only the start of the telecom firm’s quest to transform into a major global “digico,” and that it is already on the prowl for another acquisition, with the target likely to be an IT solutions provider based here or elsewhere. “Epsilon is neither too large nor too small,

Sept. 9, 2021

SK Telecom’s new subscription platform secures 150,000 subscribers in a week

The number of subscribers of SK Telecom’s new subscription-based e-commerce platform T Universe has exceeded 150,000 after its launch last week, SK Telecom said Wednesday. Some 30 percent of the subscribers use mobile networks provided by SK Telecom’s competitors, the company added. Previously, SK Telecom said the company aims to attract 36 million subscribers out of the country’s total population of 51 million by 2025. According to the telecommunications firm, around 70

Sept. 8, 2021

S. Korean biotech firm Genome & Company to acquire US-based CDMO

South Korean biotech firm Genome & Company will acquire a 60 percent stake in US-based contract development and manufacturing organization List Biological Laboratories for $27 million, the company announced Wednesday. With the acquisition, Genome & Company, which specializes in immuno-oncology, seeks to secure materials needed for future clinical trials of microbiome-based therapies, CEO Bae Ji-soo told an online press conference. 　 Founded in 1978, List Labs is a CDMO firm that owns m

Sept. 8, 2021

LG Chem develops new material for foldable displays

LG Chem has developed a new material for foldable displays that is as hard as glass, but can bend both ways without the creasing issue, it said Tuesday. According to the South Korean firm, the “real folding window” could be used for surfaces of foldable smartphones, as well as other portable devices, including laptops and tablet PCs. Hard as glass yet thinner than existing polyimide films, the new material is a plastic film coated with the firm’s own coating technology tha

Sept. 7, 2021

Severance Hospital to introduce telemedicine program for inpatients

Yonsei University‘s Severance Hospital has decided to introduce non-face-to-face care program for inpatients to increase efficiency and minimize the risk of virus infection amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Severance announced Tuesday that it will introduce the telemedicine application My Severance, which will make doctors’ ward rounds digital. Patients at the hospital will be advised to download the application, which will automatically send alerts to patients at the time o

Sept. 7, 2021

Questions raised over duopoly of Naver and Kakao in platform industry

Last week, South Korea passed a bill aimed at preventing Google and Apple from abusing their app market duopoly, a move that garnered the media spotlight around the world. The so-called “anti-Google bill” revises the Telecommunications Business Act to stop the US-based Google from forcing local app developers to use its own payment system for in-app purchases. Industry watchers said Korean tech heavyweights in dominant market positions are also likely to face similar regulatory

Sept. 6, 2021

Budget for COVID-19 research cut by 32 percent next year: lawmaker

The South Korean government is looking for a significant budget cut for COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development programs next year, a lawmaker said Monday. According to the budget proposal that main opposition People Power Party Rep. Jeon Bong-min acquired from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the government plans to spend 89.3 billion won ($76 million) on support of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development in 2022, down 32 percent compared to this year. Rep. Jeon said the support to c

Sept. 6, 2021

JW Pharmaceutical obtains patent for homegrown gout treatment in Europe

South Korean drug company JW Pharmaceutical said Monday that a patent regarding its gout treatment URC102 has been granted by the European Patent Office.　 URC102 is a potential inhibitor of human uric acid transporter 1, which JW Pharmaceutical is developing as a potential treatment for patients with gout. It completed the phase 2b clinical trial in March, which involved 171 patients with gout here. According to the firm, the patent includes manufacturing measures for URC102 and a key intermed

Sept. 6, 2021