It was Christmas Eve in 2015. The seasonal festive vibe was blocked out from the science lab in UC Berkley, California, where bioengineering doctoral candidate Lee Gun-woo, then 27, was immersed in his research. Lee’s heart quickened as he watched the results of his experiment unravel before his eyes. A polymer nanoparticle traveled straight to his intended target genome in a test rat and changed its DNA. A jolt ran down his spine. “This could make CRISPR DNA scissors work in the h

Industry Feb. 13, 2021

South Korea has approved the emergency use of AstraZeneca’s adenoviral vector COVID-19 vaccine for all adults, including those aged 65 and older, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday. The efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine for seniors had been a matter of contention, given the dearth of clinical data presented by AstraZeneca in regards to the aged cohort. Authorities here have decided to proceed with vaccination for all, on the condition that AstraZeneca follows up with fu

Industry Feb. 10, 2021

GC Pharma has once again risen as a potential contract manufacturer to a foreign vaccine, this time for Russia’s Sputnik V. Company officials, however, refrained from commenting, citing the sensitivity of the issue. The interest for Sputnik V in South Korea was ignited after Jeong Eun-kyung, head of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said Monday that the country was open to considering the Russian vaccine, citing uncertainties over virus variants and the supply of vaccines. &l

Industry Feb. 10, 2021

Reflecting the increased demand for telecommunications amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple remained the world’s largest buyer of semiconductor chips in 2020 for the second year straight, industry data showed Wednesday. According to global research and consulting firm Gartner, Apple spent $53.6 billion on chips, up 24 percent from a year earlier, and thus accounted for 11.9 percent of the worldwide market. Next was South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, which spent $36.4 billion, up 20.4

Industry Feb. 10, 2021

  진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer 1. Samsung Electronics rolls out Galaxy A12 at W275,000 in Korea [1] Samsung Electronics will launch the Galaxy A12 phone in South Korea on Tuesday at a price of 275,000 won ($246). The Galaxy A12 has four cameras on the back, with a 5,000-milliamp-hour battery designed to last the full day and support 15-watt fast charging. *designed to: made to; intended to [2] The rear quadcamera features a 48-megapixel main camera with live focus function, a 5-mega

Podcast Feb. 10, 2021

GC Pharma and its affiliated companies GCMS and GC LabCell posted record earnings in 2020, they announced Tuesday. GC Pharma’s consolidated earnings report showed that it made 1.5 trillion won ($1.34 billion) in revenue in 2020, up 10.8 percent on-year. It was the best figure in the company’s history since 1967. In the same period, operating profit marked 50.3 billion won, up 20.6 percent on-year, while net profit came to 89.3 billion won. GC Pharma accounted the robust gro

Industry Feb. 9, 2021

Seegene, the diagnostics company at the helm of South Korea’s speedy grip on COVID-19 countermeasures, was found to have cooked its books to make it look more profitable, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The financial watchdog suggested the firm remove a key official involved in the fiscal malpractice. Seegene will be fined, with the amount not yet decided, and assigned a special auditor for the next three years. The official in question had already resigned at the time

Industry Feb. 9, 2021

Vuno, one of South Korea’s leading medical artificial intelligence companies, will make an initial public offering Feb. 26, CEO Kim Hyun-joon said at a press event Monday. Advance subscriptions for Vuno’s stocks will take place Feb. 16 and 17 through underwriters Mirae Asset Daewoo and Samsung Securities. Vuno is newly issuing 1.8 million shares upon going public. At an estimated 15,000 won to 19,500 won per share, Vuno is attempting to raise as much as 35.1 billion won with the li

Industry Feb. 8, 2021

Celltrion Pharm said Monday that it is rolling out Remsima SC in Korea for at-home treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. With Remsima SC, or subcutaneous Remsima, there is no need to visit the hospital for regular therapeutic shots for the aforementioned autoimmune diseases now. Remsima is an intravenous infliximab treatment that has to be prepared and administered by medical professionals at hospitals. Remsima SC, on the other hand, comes in pen-type autoinjecto

Industry Feb. 8, 2021

Samsung Electronics’ plans to build semiconductor foundry plants in the US could yield $8.9 billion in the local economy, according to analysis by Impact DataSource, quoted in Samsung Electronics’ letter of intent to the Texas authorities. According to industry sources, Samsung Electronics sees the high tax rates in Texas as an obstacle to its plans for larger business in Austin, and is reviewing alternatives such as New York, Arizona and Korea for is future investment. An official

Industry Feb. 7, 2021

  　Samsung Electronics will launch the Galaxy A12 phone in South Korea on Tuesday at a price of 275,000 won ($246).   　The Galaxy A12 has four cameras on the back, with a 5,000-milliamp-hour battery designed to last the full day and support 15-watt fast charging.   　The rear quadcamera features a 48-megapixel main camera with live focus function, a 5-megapixel ultrawide-angle lens, a 2-megapixel depth camera and a 2-megapixel macro camera. The front camera has 8 megapixels. &nb

Industry Feb. 7, 2021

SK Bioscience is collaborating with GlaxoSmithKline in COVID-19 vaccine development, the company said Thursday. According to SK Bioscience, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate GBP510 has shown improved T cell activity, or immune response, when used in combination with GSK’s adjuvant AS03. The two companies are running a clinical phase 1/2 trial of GBP510 and AS03, since the local drug authority’s approval of the clinical test design on Jan. 26. Adjuvants are immune boosters that are ad

Industry Feb. 4, 2021

Korean mask company IK HealMade on Thursday said that it is more than ready for the full-fledged global exports of its FFP2-certified and US FDA-approved masks. The company’s remark is targeted for Europe, as in January the southeastern German state of Bavaria made it compulsory for people to wear FFP2 masks in shops and on public transport. The FFP2 certification signifies the mask has passed some 20 tests and demonstrated successful filtration of more than 94 percent of aerosol conten

Industry Feb. 4, 2021

South Korea on Wednesday gave special approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine Comirnaty, specifically for the batch to be imported through the global COVAX facility. As per this decision, a total of 117,000 doses of Comirnaty will arrive in Korea after mid-February, the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said. As the vaccine needs to be administered twice, the COVAX batch can cover around 60,000 people. Authorities have made clear that the initial batch of vaccines are

Industry Feb. 3, 2021

At-home skin care is evolving more than ever as facial creams are getting borderline therapeutic. An increasing number of pharmaceutical firms are branching out into the cosmetics business, aiming to apply therapeutic science, such as stem cell, probiotics and microbiome, to help treat skin trouble and aging. For biotechs, it is a way of making use of their factory production lines that can double as a cosmetics manufacturing site when operation rate is low and to secure cash flows during the

Industry Feb. 2, 2021