South Korea on Thursday held the nation’s annual rite of passage -- the Suneung, the standardized college entrance exam -- on which it’s an understatement to say that students stake their future. The question of how to hold a college entrance exam during a global pandemic has been a headache for many. In the US, the Educational Testing Service has made its graduate admissions test, the GRE, available at home in the interest of social distancing, while the College Board went back on

LG Chem‘s non-alcoholic steatohepatitis treatment pipeline TT-01025 has been approved to carry out a clinical phase 1 trial by the US Food and Drug Administration, LG Chem announced Wednesday. The phase 1 trial will be conducted by PPD’s clinical research unit in Las Vegas, with LG Chem‘s Manfred Stapff as the lead researcher. TT-01025 is a pipeline LG Chem licensed in from Chinese biotech TransThera Biosciences in August. LG Chem has exclusive rights to develop and commerci

Philips Korea has picked local startups Mezoo, Medipixel and Vuno to seek shared growth in the field of digital healthcare, the company said Wednesday. Philips Korea will collaborate with these three startups and aid their overseas business. As part of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ policy to create synergy between corporates and startups, Philips Korea has taken charge of a contest since July to find startups with the best blueprint for better hospital management, clinical results,

Naver Cloud and GS Global will collaborate on their overseas services, the companies said Tuesday. The new alliance with GS Global gives Naver Cloud a channel to liaise with large-scale corporate clients in target countries, while for GS Global it allows for a business expansion opportunity into information technology, they said. “Naver Cloud has the most global region services among cloud platforms developed by Korean firms,” said Park Won-ki, CEO of Naver Cloud. “It has h

Unity Technologies Korea will raise 1 billion won ($904,000) in funding together with ONEstore to operate a technology support program for game developers in Korea, it announced Tuesday. At an online press conference held a day ahead of the opening of its annual Unite Seoul 2020, Unity Korea reviewed its yearly performance and laid out the road map for the Unity game developing engine next year. “More than 64.8 percent of Korea's top 1,000 mobile games in 2020 were developed using

South Korean companies developing COVID-19 treatments overseas are one after another announcing how their endeavors are progressing. On Monday, NeoImmuneTech said it finished administering its NT-I7, an interleukin-7 pipeline stabilized with a patented technology, on lightly affected COVID-19 patients in the US.  The company has yet to derive a result from the test, but NT-I7 was previously demonstrated as safe and efficacious in cancer patients by creating new lymphocytes. Lymphocytes

Celltrion, located in Songdo, Incheon, is being extra vigilant against the sudden spike of COVID-19 patients in the city, as it awaits conditional approval of its antibody treatment, according to a person familiar with the matter, Monday. “Employees at Celltrion are now advised to take their work laptops home with them every day, so that in the case we become confirmed patients, we can immediately work from home under quarantine,” a Celltrion employee told The Korea Herald under the

As South Korean battery makers LG Chem and SK Innovation inch toward the deadline for a final ruling by the US International Trade Commission, scheduled for Dec. 10, rumors are swirling that the institution may delay the decision a third time, according to industry sources on Sunday. “There are multiple factors that make the rumors about a third delay plausible, such as the changing US administration and the continued spread of COVID-19,” an industry source told The Korea Herald.

After the explosive listing of SK Biopharmaceutical in June this year, initial public offerings of biologics companies are anticipated to continue their strong streak in 2021.   　Among those already known to be coming to the market next year, the ones attracting the most attention are SK Bioscience and HK inno.N, formerly CJ HealthCare.   　SK Bioscience, under SK Chemical and SK Discovery in SK Group’s governance structure, is a vaccine maker. The company boasts the world&rsqu

LG Display is seeking to expand the use of organic light-emitting diode display panels at smart homes by teaming up with startups. On Thursday, LG Display announced eight candidates out of some 80 startups who have taken part in a contest the company has hosted since July to select open innovation partners. The eight are Roha, TheFamilyLab, AllBlanc, Verses, Yeastudio, VTouch, BeJewel and Volla. From here, the candidates will proceed to the next round where three finalists will be narrowed do

LG U+’s Chief Executive Officer Ha Hyun-hwoi stepped down Wednesday, recommending in his place Hwang Hyun-sik, president of consumer business. According to LG U+, Ha has determined that now is a critical point for LG U+ in its preparation for the post-COVID-19 era and digital transformation.  He has recommended Hwang to helm the leadership, saying his 20 years of experience in the telecommunications business will stably guide LG U+ through the rapidly evolving market.  Hwang,

LG Display, in its annual personnel appointment announcement Wednesday, introduced a new chief technology officer, Yoon Soo-young. Yoon will replace incumbent CTO Kang In-byeong. All new appointments are effective January 1st, LG Display said. Yoon, formerly the head of LG Display Laboratory, has been acknowledged for his role in leading the company‘s business transition to next-generation organic light-emitting diode technology. LG Display said that it has promoted 19 more officials

Celltrion said Wednesday that it has finished administering its pipeline CT-P59 (regdanvimab) to all 327 patients enrolled in the global phase 2 clinical trials held across South Korea, the US, Romania and Spain. Upon news of the company’s imminent application for emergency use of its COVID-19 antibody treatment, shares of Celltrion jumped immediately. This phase 2 clinical trial targets lightly and seriously afflicted COVID-19 patients, and is being carried out to ascertain the safety an

GE said Tuesday it has clinched a deal to supply advanced gas equipment to the Naepo District Heating Plant, a regional heating supply system for the Naepo new town in South Chungcheong Province. GE said that per this deal, it will be equipping the plant with 7HA.02 gas turbine technology, which will provide approximately 500 megawatts to the national grid -- the equivalent output needed to power some 125,000 South Korean homes. It will also provide steam for district heating for more than 100

With countries scurrying to secure sufficient COVID-19 vaccines being developed by leading global pharmaceutical firms, attention is paid to the pros and cons of each, in terms of their efficacy, affordability and distribution conditions. While Pfizer and Moderna boast average efficacy rates of nearly 95 percent, their mRNA vaccines are expensive and require temperatures of between minus 20 degrees Celsius and minus 70 degrees Celsius for storage and delivery. They have put $15 to $25 price tag