■Celltrion announced on the 28th that sales of the metastatic colorectal cancer and breast cancer treatment "Vegzelma" (active ingredient: bevacizumab) reached over 75.8 billion won in the U.S. last year. Vegzelma recorded total sales of 221.2 billion won last year, with one-third generated in the U.S. Celltrion expressed optimism about the impressive sales performance of Vegzelma, which, despite being the fourth latecomer bevacizumab biosimilar launched in the U.S. market, achieved notable sales results. Vegzelma also captured the top spot in bevacizumab prescriptions in Europe in the third quarter of last year, with a market share of 29%, surpassing competing products.
■Peptron announced on the 28th that it will present research results on its next-generation peptide platform technology, IEP, capable of maximizing the efficacy of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Chicago, which will be held from the 25th of next month. The IEP technology, independently developed by Peptron over the past eight years, is a cell-internalizing peptide based on Micro Exon Peptide (MEP). While ADCs are attracting attention as next-generation anticancer drugs targeting specific cancer cells with precision, they face challenges in low-internalization rates of drugs in cases where cancer cells are expressed at low levels. To overcome this issue, Peptron has integrated IEP with ADCs to enhance accessibility to cancer tissues and effectively improve drug internalization, achieving high efficacy even in low-expressing cancer cells.
■HUGEL announced on the 28th that it will launch two new products under its skin beauty brand "WELLAGE": the "Real Hyaluronic Glow Booster PDRN Mask" and the "Hyper Peptide Firming Booster Collagen Mask." The new masks are gel-form products with essences containing ingredients specifically formulated to address users' skin concerns. When applied to the skin, the masks gradually become transparent as the ingredients are absorbed over time. The Real Hyaluronic Glow Booster PDRN Mask contains PDRN derived from salmon DNA and high-purity hyaluronic acid, which has undergone triple filtration to remove impurities. The Hyper Peptide Firming Booster Collagen Mask is formulated with botulinum peptides and collagen, focusing on enhancing elasticity while offering benefits for pore care and improving skin texture.
■CHA Biotech's global medical subsidiary, CHA Healthcare, announced on the 28th that it has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with accounting firm Samil PwC to enhance its senior and healthcare business. The two companies aim to resolve various issues arising in the aging society based on the healthcare expertise they have built over time. Through this agreement, CHA Healthcare plans to focus on preventive care, personalized care, and anti-aging capabilities to create healthcare services. They are also preparing to establish a platform centered around the concept of Aging-In-Place, which emphasizes a preference for spending one's later years in a familiar environment. Samil PwC will collaborate to develop a Korean-style senior housing and care model by leveraging its diverse experience and expertise in various senior real estate projects both domestically and internationally.
■CG MedTech, an orthopedic implant research and manufacturing company, announced on the 28th that it has obtained medical device item approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its cranio-maxillofacial (CMF) fixation screw product, "StealthFix™ CMF Screw," made from absorbable magnesium metal. The approved product will be used to stabilize and reconstruct fractures occurring in the skull or facial bones. StealthFix is characterized by being made of a special metallic material developed by CG MedTech that utilizes a magnesium alloy naturally absorbed by the human body. This metal, developed with government support, is a next-generation material composed solely of elements that constitute the human body, boasting high biocompatibility and simultaneously possessing properties of ductility and mechanical strength.
■Ildong Pharmaceutical announced on the 28th that it will participate in donating goods to help the regions affected by the Yeongnam forest fire incident. The company plans to provide goods worth about 60 million won, including its health functional foods, medicines, and quasi-drugs, in cooperation with the Community Chest of Korea, Uiseong County Office, and the Gyeongbuk Medical Association. The donated items include MyMe booster vitamins, MyMe Superbee stress fatigue care, GQ Lab probiotics core for gut health, Vitamin drink AlroGold, high-quality wound bandage CareLift, moist dressing MediTouch for wound management, and fever, pain, and anti-inflammatory medicine Carol Night soft capsules. These items will be sent to the relevant local agencies and facilities to be used as relief goods and tokens of support for residents in affected areas and firefighting personnel.
■Yuhan Corporation announced on the 28th that its premium women's probiotic brand "Elena" has surpassed annual sales of 30 billion won. Launched in 2015, Elena was the first in South Korea to introduce the UREX probiotics strain for sale. At that time, the perception of probiotics was focused on gut health, making women's probiotics unfamiliar. Elena is the first individually recognized health functional food endorsed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its efficacy in improving women's vaginal health and has secured differentiated competitiveness through evidence-based product strength emphasizing functionality and safety.
■Caring, a senior care specialist corporation, announced on the 28th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to provide visiting medical services with Yonsei Rheumatology and Internal Medicine Clinic, intensifying the establishment of an integrated healthcare model that links care and medical services. Through this agreement, Caring aims to create an environment where elderly individuals with mobility issues can receive necessary medical services at home without visiting a hospital, thus addressing the medical blind spots by organically connecting care and medical services. The two organizations plan to participate in the pilot project for home visiting medical services led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, providing medical services at the residences of seniors, while enhancing the care system so that each individual can receive appropriate care according to their health condition in close cooperation between medical staff and caregivers.
■Yongin Severance Hospital announced on the 28th that it has signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Motov, Seragem Clinical, and Digital Medic for the joint planning and demonstration of a "smart city based on a digital healthcare platform." This agreement was established in response to changes in which hospital-centered medical services expand into local communities and individuals' daily lives, due to advancements in digital technology and expansion of smart city infrastructure. Each institution will plan digital healthcare solutions that integrate various technological components such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), smart mobility, and digital therapeutics, and will embark on demonstrations aimed at presenting new models for precisely managing citizens' health and improving access to medical care.
■Professor Kim Kyung-hwan's team at Seoul National University Hospital announced on the 28th that they have achieved 400 cases of innovative aortic valve replacement using the Intuity rapid deployment valve, marking the first in South Korea. This achievement comes approximately nine years after successfully performing the first rapid deployment aortic valve replacement in the country in 2016. The aortic valve is located between the aorta and the left ventricle of the heart and plays a critical role as the gateway for pumping blood to the entire body. Aortic stenosis is a condition where the aortic valve narrows for various reasons and fails to open fully. The innovative rapid deployment aortic valve replacement method minimizes the surgical time and cardiac arrest time while preserving the three-dimensional (3D) anatomical structure of the aortic valve. This method is noted for its low complication rates post-surgery and excellent safety from a hemodynamic standpoint.
■The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 28th that out of 664 drug clinical approvals last year, 305 were for domestically developed clinical trials. Last year's domestic clinical trials were characterized by an increase in clinical trials conducted by domestic pharmaceutical developers, as well as a robust trend in the development of gene therapy and endocrine drugs. The increase in clinical trials for gene therapy and endocrine treatments appears to reflect the demand for pharmaceutical development at the clinical trial stage due to the expansion of the global market. In particular, domestic companies actively conducted clinical trials aimed at improving the convenience of packaging, such as changing the formulation of existing drugs or creating combination drugs. Multinational clinical trials showed a slight decrease, but the repeated fluctuations over the past five years are believed to reflect the impacts of changes in the global environment.