The pandemic has opened up a window of opportunity for South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies to advance to the global stage. Several local players posted strong earnings by exporting self-developed test kits to foreign countries and secured contract manufacturing deals for COVID-19 vaccines. As a result, the number of pharmaceutical and biotech firms with sales exceeding 1 trillion won ($860.2 million) has increased to nine in 2020 from six a year earlier. Contract development

Vaccinations for people aged 17 to 49 will start Monday, as South Korea struggles to clamp down a fourth wave of the coronavirus. The upcoming vaccine roll out will be crucial in the country’s plan to reach herd immunity by November, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, as it covers over 16 million people considered the most socially active among all age groups. Eligible are those born after Jan. 1, 1972, and before Dec. 31, 2003, a group that includes some 17-year-old

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“Meokbang” (also known as “mukbang”), a compound word for “eating” and “broadcast” in Korean, is a popular form of content found on video platforms such as Youtube, AfreecaTV, Twitch, and Kakao TV. Meokbang streamers show themselves consuming large platefuls of junk food while simultaneously interacting with viewers. Along with the rise of one-person households in the country, people have gotten in the habit of watching meokbang while eating alon

South Korean researchers became the world’s first to discover a gene variant that causes a rare type of hearing impairment whose origins had so far remained unknown. The newly identified gene will help doctors better treat patients with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder, or ANSD, and to find out if their condition can be improved through surgery, according to Dr. Choi Byung-yoon, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital’s otorhinolaryngology professor who led the research.

Having more than three cups of coffee a day can help those in their 40s or older live longer, researchers from Chung-Ang University found in a study with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The study was conducted on 110,920 individuals older than 40. Scientists tracked the patients’ daily coffee intake and death rate for an average of 9.1 years. Individuals already diagnosed with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer were not included in the study. The study conclude

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