South Korea’s homegrown rocket Nuri is ready for blastoff on Tuesday, with hopes to deliver a complete and successful launch this time to officially signal the country’s entrance into the global space race. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said Monday that Nuri, also known as the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II, has been erected on the launch pad at Naro Space Center in the southern coastal village of Goheung, South Jeolla Province. “Starting around 11 or 11:30 a.m. tom

Technology June 20, 2022

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is looking to impose sanctions against AstraZeneca over allegations that the global pharmaceutical firm colluded with a local firm to hinder the launch of cheaper generic drugs. The FTC has recently sent out an audit report to the two drug makers, according to industry sources on Monday. The audit report, which is considered as a prosecutor’s indictment, contained the regulator’s opinion that AstraZeneca provided financial benefits to Alvoge

Social Affairs June 20, 2022

SAN DIEGO -- Over 250 Korean companies participated in this year’s BIO International Convention, the world’s largest biotechnology industry gathering that took place in person for the first time in three years. Except in the cases of big companies such as Celltrion and Samsung Biologics, most of the small biotech companies were scrapping to present their pipelines and technologies to the global market in hopes that investors and global big pharmaceutical companies will take notice.

Technology June 19, 2022

KT and Hanmi Pharmaceutical have jointly invested in digital therapeutics developer Digital Pharm, officials said Sunday. With the investment, KT will be in charge of developing platforms for digital therapeutics, drafting business strategies and providing pipelines. Meanwhile, Hanmi plans to maximize synergetic impact through hospital-specialized marketing and supporting the authorization of digital medical devices. Digital Pharm’s first projects are in digital therapeutics and electro

Technology June 19, 2022

SAN DIEGO -- Samsung Biologics, the world’s largest contract development and manufacturing organization by production capacity, will join the global RE100 renewable energy initiative as early as next month, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday.  Led by the Climate Group in partnership with CDP, formerly known as Carbon Disclosure Project, the RE100 initiative commits members to using 100 percent renewable electricity.  Among the 372 members of the RE100 as of Wednes

Industry June 16, 2022

SAN DIEGO -- Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate, will look to bolster its recently launched bio sector by scaling down the current four main business areas -- chemicals, food, hotels and retail -- and possibly putting one of them up for sale. “Our goal is to grow our bio and health interests into a portfolio that matches our four main portfolios,” Lee Hun-ki, Lotte Holdings’ executive vice president, said in a press meeting near the BIO International

Industry June 15, 2022

SAN DIEGO -- Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim said Monday the US states of California, North Carolina, Washington and Texas are the strongest candidates the South Korean contract manufacturing organization is considering for its first overseas production facility. Pointing out that some of the US’ major bio clusters are located in those four states, the CEO added that the CMO giant has not made any decisions and is still reviewing options. “We are certainly expanding. The Plant 4 wi

Technology June 14, 2022

SAN DIEGO -- South Korea became one of the countries with the largest number of companies taking part in this year’s BIO International Convention, showing how Asia’s fourth-largest economy has become a rising player in the global biotechnology industry. According to a biotech industry official participating in the convention in San Diego, over 3,200 companies from across the globe signed up to attend the event. Of them, 255 are from South Korea. That is the second largest for a cou

Industry June 14, 2022

SAN DIEGO -- Samsung Biologics is showcasing its top-tier production capacities at the world’s largest biopharmaceutical exhibition, the South Korean company said Monday. Taking part in the BIO International Convention for the 10th consecutive year, Samsung Biologics has set up a sizable 140-square-meter booth to represent its world-leading production capacity as one of the largest contract and manufacturing organization businesses across the globe. According to Samsung Biologics, the

Industry June 13, 2022

South Korea’s health care sector is breaking physical barriers with the rise of the metaverse and its core technologies -- virtual reality and artificial intelligence. As the COVID-19 pandemic has limited most offline interactions for the past two years, metaverse technologies that ultimately envision a shared virtual space where people can interact with each other and carry out lifelike activities and tasks have been brought to the fore. Unlike the traditional health care sector that

Technology June 11, 2022

Lotte Biologics has picked Lee Won-jik, a former Samsung Biologics executive, to lead its bio business as the company’s CEO. Born in 1977, Lee has over two decades of experience in global biologics and the pharmaceuticals industry, including working at the US Department of Health and Human Services and Bristol Myers Squibb. Before he joined Lotte in August, Lee was the head of Samsung Biologics’ drug product business unit. Lotte Biologics and its new CEO will officially debut at

Industry June 10, 2022

Kakao Pay shares tumbled Wednesday morning after it was reported that its second-largest shareholder Alipay was looking to sell 5 million shares -- about 10 percent of the total stake it holds in Kakao Pay -- in a block deal. The stock price of Kakao Pay fell 15.57 percent to close at 89,500 won. Despite the sell-off, the payment arm of IT giant Kakao said Alipay will continue to be a strategic investor and remain the second-largest shareholder, with 34.72 percent of Kakao Pay shares, and the

Market June 8, 2022

Samsung Biologics has signed an intent letter for a contract manufacturing organization deal worth $81 million with multinational pharmaceutical firm Norvatis Pharma, the South Korean company announced Tuesday. According to the contract manufacturing giant’s regulatory filing, the two sides on Friday signed the initial contract, which is equivalent to 6.41 percent of the company’s annual sales of 1.57 trillion won ($1.25 billion) last year. It did not reveal which of Novartis&rsquo

Industry June 7, 2022

DAEJEON -- South Korea is gearing up to become the seventh nation in the world to carry out a lunar probe mission with its first lunar orbiter set for an Aug. 2 launch. The country's first lunar mission, which has been named "Danuri" through a nationwide naming contest, has completed the final stages of space tests including durability checkups against extreme temperatures and electromagnetic waves at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. It is waiting to be transported to its laun

Technology June 6, 2022

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday showed up to participate in the Samsung Ho-Am Prize award ceremony for the first time in six years, but stayed mum on questions about his meeting with Intel’s CEO from the previous day. A group of reporters asked him about investment plans on his way to the ceremony, but Samsung group‘s de facto leader did not answer any questions. Named after the penname of Samsung group’s late founder Lee Byung-chull, the Samsung Ho-

Social Affairs May 31, 2022