Samsung Biologics said Tuesday that the company has signed five contract manufacturing deals to bring the total value of its annual orders this year to an all-time high of 3.48 trillion won ($2.7 billion). According to Samsung Biologics’ regulatory filing, the company has recently inked one new and four expanded deals with a pharmaceutical company based in Asia. The five contracts are worth a total of around 761 billion won, the company said. The new CMO deal is worth 589 billion won, and

Industry Nov. 28, 2023

Posco Group will hold a board meeting next month possibly to start its search for its new chairperson, according to industry sources on Monday. It remains to be seen whether Posco Chairman and CEO Choi Jeong-woo will seek a third term. His second term ends in March next year. Under the group’s internal policy, the current CEO should be reviewed first if he wishes to run for another term. But sources say the group is likely to revise the rule amid growing calls for a more transparent CEO se

Industry Nov. 27, 2023

SK Bioscience said Wednesday that the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Hilleman Laboratories to cooperate on the development of a second-generation Ebola vaccine and its global supply. Hilleman Laboratories is a Singapore-based vaccine research organization, founded as a joint venture between US drug maker MSD and British foundation Wellcome Trust. Under the new partnership, SK Bioscience will work with Hilleman Laboratories to improve its vaccine production efficiency and therm

Industry Nov. 22, 2023

The declaration of "Kimchi Day" is not only necessary to raise awareness about the Korean staple food globally, but also to protect it in a decadeslong cultural feud over its origin, according to Kim Choon-jin, CEO of Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. Kim is a three-term lawmaker who entered South Korea's political scene after having been the dentist of former President Kim Dae-jung. He was appointed as CEO of the state-run food trade agency, known as aT for short, in 2021

Industry Nov. 21, 2023

SK Square, SK Group’s investment unit, has scrapped negotiations with Singapore-based e-commerce giant Qoo10 on selling shares of its online retail platform operator 11Street, according to local retail industry sources, Sunday. SK Square is not expected to resume talks with Qoo10 and may search for other investors who are interested in making an investment in 11Street, the sources said. Since September this year, SK Square had been in talks with Qoo10 for sale of an 18.2 percent stake in

Industry Nov. 19, 2023

Daewoo Engineering & Construction will beef up its presence in the Indonesian market where the country has high demand for infrastructure arising from capital relocation and economic development. “Indonesia has the largest construction market among (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states, thanks to its (population of) 270 million, large land size and over 5 percent annual economic growth rate,” said Han Seung, executive vice president of Daewoo E&C’s over

Industry Nov. 19, 2023

South Korea’s beer imports from China decreased by over 40 percent last month after a hygiene incident at a Tsingtao brewery was revealed. Imports of Japanese beer products, on the other hand, increased by over 300 percent. According to data from the Korea Customs Service on Thursday, Korea’s imports of Chinese beer reached 228.1 tons in October, down 42.6 percent on-year. The import value of Chinese beer products shipped to Korea during the same period came to $1.9 million, also dow

Industry Nov. 16, 2023

Posco International announced Wednesday that the company would join Ukraine’s reconstruction, starting with setting up a factory to manufacture modules for new buildings in war-torn regions of the country. Posco International Vice Chairman Jeong Tak on Tuesday met with Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv, in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to sign a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a modular factory in Mykolaiv, the city on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. Modular constructi

Industry Nov. 15, 2023

Samsung Bioepis, a biosimilar developer under Samsung Group, will embark on the development of a biosimilar candidate referencing MSD’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab), one of the best-selling drugs in the world. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Wednesday, Samsung Bioepis has received approval for its phase 1 clinical trial of SB27, a biosimilar candidate referencing Keytruda. Samsung Bioepis is now the first Korean biosimilar company to receive approval from the government to

Industry Nov. 15, 2023

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Tuesday that its botulinum toxin product, Nabota, posted 113.3 billion won ($85.3 million) in sales as of the third quarter this year. Overseas sales made up 93.5 billion won or 83 percent of the total, the company added. Nabota's overseas sales have continued growing in recent years, an outcome of Daewoon's global push. The portion reached 61 percent in 2021 and then surged to 77 percent last year. US sales, in particular, reached 44.5 billion won, making

Industry Nov. 14, 2023

Celltrion Healthcare, Korean biosimilar giant Celltrion’s sales unit, announced that the company has won the Brazilian Federal Government’s bid to supply biosimilar infliximab Remsima for the third consecutive year. Under its contract with the Brazilian government, Celltrion Healthcare will ship out all 360,000 vials of Remsima during the first half of 2024, the company said. Celltrion Healthcare is currently the sole infliximab provider for the Brazilian government, whose supply of

Industry Nov. 10, 2023

Posco has avoided the first-ever strike in its 55-year history as its management and union reached an agreement following six months of wage talks. The wage negotiation was concluded as the union voted to accept a tentative agreement made by the two sides on Thursday night. Of 11,245 union members, 10,856 joined the vote, according to Posco. The number of union members who voted in favor of the agreement reached 5,527, accounting for 50.91 percent, while the number of union members who were agai

Industry Nov. 10, 2023

South Korean confectionery company SPC Samlip said Thursday that it had signed a partnership with H Mart, the largest Asian supermarket chain in North America, as part of efforts to further increase its global presence. H Mart operates some 120 supermarkets in the US, Canada and the UK. In 2022, it posted 4.3 trillion won ($3.28 billion) in sales. Under the partnership, SPC Samlip will increase its supply of confectionery products to be distributed through H Mart's extensive sales network.

Industry Nov. 9, 2023

South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion said Tuesday it posted record earnings in the third quarter, largely buoyed by upbeat sales of biosimilar products and solid contract manufacturing orders. Celltrion's revenue in the July-September period climbed 4.1 percent on-year to 672.3 billion won ($514 million). Operating profit also went up by 25.2 percent to 267.6 billion won during the same period, while the operating margin came to 39.8 percent. Celltrion said sales of the company&rs

Industry Nov. 7, 2023

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Monday the company will develop a microneedle-based obesity treatment drug. The South Korean pharmaceutical company aims to start a phase 1 clinical trial next year and launch the treatment in 2028. Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s new obesity treatment will contain a synthetic peptide semaglutide, which is similar to glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone produced in the gut released in response to food to reduce appetite and the release of insulin. The patch-typ

Industry Nov. 6, 2023