SAN FRANCISCO -- Korean biosimilar giant Celltrion's Founder and Chairman Seo Jung-jin on Wednesday pledged to establish a 100 trillion won ($75 billion) health care fund through the initial public offering of the holding firm of Celltrion Group, as soon as later this year or early 2025. Seo envisions the listing of Celltrion Holdings to harness the generated funds for future initiatives in the biopharmaceuticals sector. Seo holds a 98.5 percent stake in the firm. "With the forthcoming

Industry Jan. 11, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- Kakao Healthcare, the digital health care unit under Korea's platform giant Kakao, revealed its aspirations to launch the AI-based blood sugar management service, PASTA, in Japan later this year, and the US by the end of next year, the company's CEO Hwang Hee said at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference Tuesday. PASTA, developed in collaboration with global companies Dexcom, Novo Nordisk and iSense, is a blood sugar management service utilizing a continuous glucose monit

Industry Jan. 11, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- Yuhan Corp. plans to bring at least two novel drugs, which may include an oncology treatment, to the global market by 2026, with an ambitious vision to become one of the world's top 50 pharmaceutical companies, it said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference' Asia-Pacific track presentation session Tuesday. "Yuhan covers multiple fields in the realm of biopharmaceuticals, from discovering, manufacturing, to sales and marketing, and currently possess 29 innovative

Industry Jan. 11, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO – Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of Samsung Group, is seeking to further consolidate its leadership in the soaring contract manufacturing and development market by outpacing rivals in terms of production capacity. "I am aware of the market's post-pandemic oversupply concerns. However, considering the continual rise in our orders, the choice to expand production capacity is deemed essential to promptly address the strong demands of our clients,” CEO John Ri

Industry Jan. 10, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- Lotte Biologics will begin production of its antibody-drug conjugates at its US plant by the first quarter of 2025, according to its CEO Richard Lee, who spoke at a meeting with reporters on Monday, held on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. As ADCs have emerged as a promising class of treatments, the Korean contract drug manufacturer has received a myriad of requests from potential clients to offer a full line of ADC services at its production site in Syrac

Industry Jan. 10, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- SK Biopharmaceuticals will make aggressive investments into new drug discovery platforms to replicate the firm's success of its epilepsy treatment Xcopri, it said at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference' Asia-Pacific track presentation session on Tuesday. "SK Biopharmaceuticals is the first and the sole Korean company to directly sell novel drugs in the US," SK Biopharmaceuticals CEO Lee Dong-hoon said while unveiling the firm's long-term growth strategy a

Industry Jan. 10, 2024

Korea Herald Correspondent SAN FRANCISCO -- A record number of Korean companies are set to deliver presentations to boast their latest biotechnologies at the 42nd J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, the largest event of its kind, which kicked off Monday in San Francisco. This year, the number of Korean companies that received official invitations from the host increased to six from three last year. The presenters include Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Yuhan Corp., Lotte Biologics, SK Biopharmaceut

Industry Jan. 9, 2024

Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang's Bibigo brand has set a target of 35 billion won ($26 million) in domestic sales this year for its K-street food products, after observing considerable sales momentum in the market in 2023, according to the firm on Tuesday. Among Bibigo's K-street food offerings, its bungeoppang products, or fish-shaped waffles, achieved monthly domestic sales of 1 billion won for both November and December. Launched in August, the bungeoppang series currently boasts r

Industry Jan. 2, 2024

South Korea posted a new record high in food exports last year, driven by the steadily increasing global interest in Korean culture and strategic initiatives by food companies who have rigorously promoted their products overseas. The total export value of agricultural and food products reached $9 billion by the end of the third week of December, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This marks a 3 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022, setting a new all

Industry Jan. 1, 2024

The 2023 Korea Food Security Symposium is taking place Friday at the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. Center in Seoul, gathering field experts, scholars and public officials to discuss the topic of the country's food security, particularly in the age of climate crisis. "The rapidly intensifying climate crisis and persistent conflicts pose ongoing threats to the global food supply and demand network," said Kim Chun-jin, CEO of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Co

Industry Dec. 22, 2023

The Korea Airports Corp. said Thursday it aims at reversing into the black next year by attracting 90 million passengers and logging 1 trillion won ($766.7 million) in revenue. Seven airports across the nation, including Gimpo, Gimhae, Jeju, Cheongju, Daegu, Muan and Yangyang, are anticipated to surpass their pre-pandemic records in number of passengers by next year, riding the wave of increasing demand for inbound tourism. With the anticipated full recovery of international passengers in 2024,

Industry Dec. 22, 2023

From oversupply of logistics hubs to international giants’ entry, South Korea’s booming e-commerce industry is being reshaped by multiple challenges and changes. According to Colliers Korea's December report, 114 logistics centers occupying over 10,000 square meters were registered this year, marking the highest figure since 2017. The rise was fueled by the heightened demand for logistics centers that surfaced three years ago during the peak of the pandemic. The Greater Seoul ar

Industry Dec. 20, 2023

The Incheon International Airport Corporation has unveiled its vision for the upcoming year, aiming to further digitalize the airport's systems and services for the convenience of passengers. "We have designated 2024 as Incheon Airport's year of digital transformation," Incheon International Airport Corp. CEO Lee Hag-jae said during a press conference held at the airport, on Wednesday. "Our objective is to integrate cutting-edge technology into airport services at both t

Industry Dec. 20, 2023

Shinsegae Duty Free, Korea's leading duty-free brand, said Tuesday it has joined hands with Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific to establish a membership mileage partnership program. This marks the first time for a domestic duty-free company to enter into a marketing agreement with a global air carrier. The strategic move is aimed at drawing in more individual tourists to duty-free shops, responding to the changing trend of those visiting Korea. Whereas previously there were more tourists from

Industry Dec. 19, 2023

The South Korean construction sector is anticipated to maintain its streak of surpassing $30 billion in overseas orders for the fourth consecutive year, approaching the government's target of reaching this year's $35 billion goal. The total overseas orders that Korean builders have received as of Dec. 15 this year amounted to $29.25 billion, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday. The figure is a 7.2 percent increase from the $27.29 billion tallied in

Industry Dec. 18, 2023