South Korea’s combined exports of cosmetics products increased 16.1 percent to 8.28 trillion won ($7.28 billion) in 2020, ranking third in the world, following France and the US, data showed Monday. According to the data released by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, China was the biggest importer of South Korean cosmetic products last year at $3.8 billion, followed by Hong Kong with $714 million, the United States with $640 million and Japan with $639 million. Vietnam’s imports

Celltrion founder Seo Jung-jin’s eldest son Seo Jin-seok has obtained a seat in the boardroom of Iksuda Therapeutics, a UK-based antibody-drug conjugates developer, according to industry sources Monday. The latest change in Iksuda‘s boardroom came after Celltrion and Mirae Asset Group announced earlier this month a $47 million joint investment in Iksuda to acquire a controlling stake of the British company. According to Celltrion, Iksuda has agreed with the appointment of Seo Jin

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion’s monoclonal antibody treatment Regkirona, or CT-P59, has shown initial promise in treating patients infected with COVID-19 variants, the company said Friday, quoting preclinical results from its recent animal test. Celltrion said it found that the injection of its COVID-19 treatment Regkirona significantly reduced viral titers in 50 experimental mice infected with the South African variant. The mice injected with Regkirona showed a 100 p

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has granted approval for a phase 2a clinical trial of Engensis, an investigational gene therapy for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, under development by South Korean biotechnology company Helixmith, the company said Thursday. Engensis is a gene therapy that utilizes a plasmid, a small circular DNA molecule, to provide the hepatocyte growth factor gene to patients’ nerve and nerve-supporting cells, whi

South Korean biotechnology company Cha Biotech has received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its plan to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial of a hepatitis B third-generation vaccine, the firm said Thursday. Following the green light, Cha Vaccine Institute, the firm’s vaccine development subsidiary, will begin administrating the vaccine candidate to adults between the ages of 19-65, aiming to complete the study by October 2023. The hepatitis B vaccine candidate is dev

In South Korea, real-time information on leftover COVID-19 vaccines is available to everyone on the country’s No. 1 portal Naver and No. 1 messenger app KakaoTalk. Thanks to the easy access and people’s zeal to get vaccinated early, the no-show vaccine slots have become nearly impossible to grab, many Koreans complain. “I was able to find a local hospital in Suwon with six does of AstraZeneca this morning on the reservation system on KakaoTalk. I hesitated for about one s

South Korean pharmaceutical firm Celltrion announced Monday that its COVID-19 antibody treatment has significantly shortened the recovery time and rate of progression for severe symptoms. The firm disclosed top-line results from a global phase 3 clinical study of Regkirona, or CT-P59, which was conducted with 1,315 patients from 13 countries around the globe between January and April. Celltrion found Regkirona reduces the risk of cases progressing to severe COVID-19 by 70 percent. Among high

South Korean digital comics platform operator Naver faces growing competition from its crosstown rival Kakao as the latter ups investment to tap into overseas markets. A webtoon refers to a series of comic strips published online. In South Korea, Naver and Kakao are the two largest online webtoon platform providers. Earlier last month, Kakao Entertainment launched its webtoon platform, Kakao Webtoon, in Thailand and Taiwan. Last week, the firm revealed that it has taken the top spot in the Go

Leaders of four South Korean conglomerates -- Hyundai Motor, SK, Posco and Hyosung -- have agreed to launch a CEO-level consultation body for the local hydrogen economy. According to officials from the business groups on Thursday, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Posco Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo and Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon met at a Hyundai Motor’s research and development center early Thursday morning, where they agreed to forge

South Korean biopharmaceutical company EuBiologics announced Wednesday that it will commence phase two clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate EuCOVAC-19. EuBiologics plans to conduct the clinical study of its synthetic antigen-based vaccine candidate from the end of this month on a total of 230 people, with an aim of completing it by October, the company said. EuBiologics said the company has seen positive results from the phase one trial in terms of the safety and immunogenicity

A homegrown autonomous driving vehicle will begin its first trial run next week, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute said Wednesday. AutoVe is a level 4 self-driving vehicle that does not have a driver’s seat. With no human assistance, the six-seater car is driven solely by the research institute’s artificial intelligence system, coupled with a self-developed voice recognition system. Passengers can just talk to the car to set up the destination, it said.

SK Gas aims to build a hydrogen value chain complex in Ulsan by 2025, encompassing raw material sourcing, production, storage and distribution. At the envisioned complex which will sit on a 140,000-square-meter plot of land, the company plans to build facilities for hydrogen extraction as well as liquid hydrogen storage and distribution. SK Gas plans to utilize the company’s existing supply channels of liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas to extract hydrogen from. The com

South Korea’s Daewoong Pharmaceutical signed an agreement to license out its gastroesophageal reflux treatment Fexuprazan to US biotech firm Neurogastrx, the company announced Tuesday. Under the contract worth $430 million in total, Daewoong will receive milestone payments of undisclosed amounts when stages are completed in the drug’s development process in the US, in addition to royalties based on its future sales in the US and Canada. Daewoong has also received a 5 percent equi

US pharmaceutical company Moderna may produce the drug substance for its messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine in South Korea, a local media outlet reported Monday. The company is reviewing options for the vaccine substance production here, including building its own production facility in Korea and partnering with a local firm, the report said, quoting Corrine Le Goff, Moderna’s chief commercial officer. The executive did not provide further details. The US-based pioneer in mRNA techno

South Korea injected the most in investments for purchasing semiconductor equipment during the first quarter this year, market data showed Friday. According to the latest report from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, the combined investment for semiconductor equipment across the world during the first quarter reached $23.5 billion, up 51 percent on-year. Under the lead of top market players such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, South Korea accounted for around 31 percen