Sustained by the sturdy demand for chips during the pandemic, Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported a consolidated second-quarter operating profit of 8.15 trillion won ($6.8 billion), up 23.5 percent on-year, while revenue slipped 6 percent to 52.97 trillion won. 　In its second quarter report, Samsung cited lackluster demand for smartphones and other devices for the slight revenue fall, and credited strong demand for memory chips, seasonal home appliance sales and a one-off gain of display b

GC Pharma on Wednesday applied to carry out a phase 2 clinical trial of its plasma-derived COVID-19 treatment with the Drug Ministry. GC Pharma plans to conduct a human test of its GC5131A, targeting 60 patients across Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Korea University Ansan Hospital and Chungnam University Hospital. According to GC Pharma, GC5131A is a hyperimmune globulin derived out of immuno antibody from recovering COVID-19 patients’ blood p

Celltrion’s anti-inflammatory biosimilar Remsima SC, which is injected under the skin, gained approval from the European Medicines Agency as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. Remsima SC contends to be a biobetter, as the upgraded method of administration enables patients to self-administer the drug at home. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted conventional hospital drug dispensing systems, Remsima SC’s convenience is being seen in a new light. Celltr

Yuhan and AbClon have joined the list of companies that are in the race to develop a therapy for COVID-19. Although they are still in the animal-testing stage, they have identified a multifariously adaptive candidate for COVID-19 therapy which they plan to begin testing on humans before the year-end. Since February, AbClon had been running its Novel Epitope Screening Technology platform to identify antibody candidates for the epidemic. The company has identified 20 antibodies that wholly cuts

SK Group is pushing for another initial public offering of its health care affiliate SK Bioscience, just a month after SK Biopharmaceuticals’ record-breaking stock market entry last month. SK Bioscience, a vaccine developer that was spun-off from SK Chemical in July 2018, will reportedly file for listing next year. Both NHIS and KIS were underwriters responsible for the blockbuster IPO of SK Biopharmaceuticals, a drug company that specializes in research and development of treatments f

LG Display on Thursday heralded the much-awaited opening of its new organic light-emitting diode panel manufacturing plant in Guangzhou, China. The Guangzhou plant enables full-fledged mass-production of 8.5-generation OLED panels for LG Display, and increases the company’s monthly OLED production capacity to 130,000 panels. LG Display’s CEO Jeong Ho-young flew to China to attend the kickoff ceremony in Guangzhou. Jeong arrived a day ahead of the event, and was exempt from the

SK Bioscience, the vaccines business unit of SK Group, signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding with Korea’s Health Ministry and global biopharma AstraZeneca, to contract manufacture the latter’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. AstraZeneca Global CEO Pascal Soriot said that the company considers it vital to establish a global distribution channel that can quickly deliver vaccines across the world, for widespread and fair access. “SK’s cutting-edge expertise and abil

Samsung Biologics reached a milestone in the first half of the year by clocking the biggest revenue and operating profit in the January-June period since it was founded in 2011. The contract development and manufacturing organization posted its second quarter earnings report Tuesday showing a revenue of 307.7 billion won ($256.8 million) and operating profit of 81.1 billion won. Combined with the first-quarter earnings, Samsung Biologics posted revenue of 514.9 billion won and operating prof

Seegene, a Korean diagnostics company acclaimed for having preemptively developed COVID-19 test kits before the pandemic even reached Korea, has since risen to the second rank on the Kosdaq bourse. The ongoing coronavirus threat has shifted the market positions of companies across industries, with businesses relevant to COVID-19 especially gaining an edge. On Tuesday, Seegene ranked second only to Celltrion Healthcare on the Kosdaq with a market capitalization of 4.84 trillion won ($4.04 bil

Offshore North American business units had become a burden for GC Holdings amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has, for instance, made it difficult for the Korean pharma to bring its workforce back and forth to focus on advancing into the region. The company’s decision to offload Green Cross BioTherapeutics for $460 million to Grifols was a timely and strategic way out, a GC official told The Korea Herald on Tuesday. GC Holdings on Monday notified its shareholders that it intended to sell t

Research for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines in Korea has been picking up speed, with GC Pharma announcing Monday it preemptively began producing plasma-derived COVID-19 treatment drug samples on Friday. GC Pharma plans to apply to the Drug Ministry with the clinical phase 2 test designs of its plasma-derived COVID-19 treatment by the end of this month. If approved, it will join 13 clinical trials in varying stages that are underway in Korea. Of them, 11 are for treatments and two are for va

In Yangyang, Gangwon Province, nestled on a mountain called Obongsan and looking out to the East Sea with an unobstructed view, lies a Buddhist haven and jewel -- Naksansa.  The temple was founded in 671 during the Silla Kingdom by Ven. Uisang. Naksan is an abbreviation of “Botanakgasan” in Korean and refers to Mount Potalaka, where Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is believed to have lived.  It is not only a picturesque destination, but also a valuable historical site that

SK Group’s investment-focused subsidiary SK Holdings will invest an additional 100 billion won ($82.9 million) in Wason, a Chinese manufacturer of copper foil. Copper foil is a core ingredient in anodes, one of the main components of electric vehicle batteries. SK Holdings announced the decision Friday, adding that this is in addition to April 2019’s 270 billion won investment. Wason is globally No. 1 in copper foil manufacturing. As of July 2020, Wason has an annual manufactur

South Korean game and investment company Smilegate said Friday it has established its first overseas base in Barcelona, Spain. Smilegate Barcelona will serve as a springboard for the company’s deepening competition against global game houses in the console games field. “With Smilegate Barcelona as the bridgehead, we will kick spur the development of new intellectual properties that are competitive in the global market,” a Smilegate official said. The affiliate will focus on

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s LAPS Triple Agonist (HM15211) was given fast-track approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, the company announced Thursday. LAPS Triple Agonist is Hanmi’s original pipeline for a form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease commonly called NASH for short. NASH is one of the most common incurable diseases that has high unmet medical needs. Current drugs only slow the progression of the disease, which can cause death due to scarring of the liver, but canno