■Pharos iBio announced on the 21st that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the development of companion diagnostics (CDx) for precision medicine with Macrogen, a domestic genomic analysis corporation. Accordingly, the company plans to utilize Macrogen's circulating tumor nucleic acid analysis technology in the clinical phase 1 process of the difficult-to-treat solid tumor therapeutic 'PHI-501.' The circulating tumor nucleic acid analysis technology is a liquid biopsy method that analyzes nucleic acids present in patients' blood, saliva, and urine in a non-invasive manner. It serves as an important testing method to accurately and quickly determine the mutation status of various genes to suggest suitable treatments for patients. The company expects that verifying the gene mutation types of clinical trial registrants and precisely selecting trial candidates will enhance the accuracy of PHI-501's clinical phase 1.
■ST PHARM announced on the 21st that it participated in 'DCAT WEEK 2025' held in New York, United States, from the 17th to 20th (local time). DCAT Week is a representative event in the pharmaceutical and biotech field that began in 1890 organized by the New York Chamber of Commerce, featuring various forms of corporate partnering meetings. Led by President Sung Moo-je, ST PHARM's executives attended to introduce its core capabilities, including the production capacity of oligonucleotides and the expansion of its second oligonucleotide facility, which will be fully operational starting in the fourth quarter of this year. Additionally, details regarding the provision of CRISPR contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services will be featured in the April issue of the DCAT online magazine 'DCAT Value Chain Insight.'
■CG MedTech, a specialized company in orthopedic implants of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, announced on the 21st that it has recently obtained medical device manufacturing item approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its 'patient-specific interbody fusion (PSIF)' implants. Interbody Fusion is a treatment method that induces the fusion of bone tissues by inserting implants between the vertebral bones (interbody), utilized in surgeries for patients with disc diseases or spinal deformities. This product is a customized implant designed to fit the patient's spinal structure, produced using a 3D printer based on the patient's X-ray, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, enabling more precise spinal alignment than existing products and tailored surgical solutions for each patient.
■Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced on the 21st that its dermocosmetic brand Easydew operated a popup store at Hyundai Department Store Mokdong from the 14th to 20th. According to Daewoong Pharmaceutical, the number of visitors to this popup store reached 10,000. The concept of this popup store was designed as a space to experience 'new skin science for melasma care.' The event was planned to allow direct experiences of Easydew products such as melasma ampoules and melasma cushions, which are known for their melasma improvement effects. Easydew plans to expand offline touchpoints with consumers and implement various marketing strategies to enhance brand awareness through this popup store.
■Choi Bo-yoon, a lawmaker in the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee belonging to the People Power Party, introduced a bill on the 21st to amend the 'Medical Act' aimed at allowing telemedicine to be constantly permitted and establishing the basis for managing and supervising telemedicine mediation through online platforms. The crux of the amendment is to provide a legal foundation that allows telemedicine regardless of the spread of infectious diseases, enabling citizens who have difficulty accessing medical institutions to receive healthcare services more conveniently. Additionally, the bill includes provisions for the Health and Welfare Minister to have management and supervision authority to ensure that telemedicine mediation using online platforms is conducted safely and systematically. Currently, telemedicine is temporarily permitted only during severe infectious disease crises under the 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Management Act.' However, there have been continuous calls for constant permission to improve medical access for vulnerable groups such as residents in rural areas, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
■Seo Myeong-ok, a lawmaker in the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee belonging to the People Power Party, introduced a bill on the 20th aimed at establishing a cancer management fund and a rare disease management fund to support the treatment and prevention of cancer and rare diseases. According to materials received from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, it takes an average of 332 days for anticancer drugs to be registered for health insurance benefits from 2014 to 2024. Notably, anticancer drugs for blood cancer and lung cancer can take as long as 600 to 800 days. In the case of expensive anticancer drugs, patients face significant financial burdens, leading to instances where they die while waiting for health insurance registration. The bill outlines the establishment of a cancer management fund for cancer prevention and treatment, a rare disease fund for prevention and treatment, the establishment of legal grounds for fund installations under the National Finance Act, and the legal basis for utilizing lottery fund resources.
■Seoul National University Hospital announced on the 21st that it has developed Korea's first 'Korean-style medical large language model (LLM).' According to the hospital, this model was developed using large-scale medical data including electronic medical records (EMR), picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), digital pathology systems, and genomic data. It is characterized by its ability to process medical information specialized for Korea's healthcare system while enhancing both diagnostic efficiency and patient safety. Seoul National University Hospital plans to lead competitive technologies in the global medical field through this model and establish a foundation for providing better healthcare services to patients. The hospital aims to refine the LLM's performance, enabling its use in actual medical practice.
■Myongji Hospital announced on the 21st that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mongolian Health Development Center to strengthen health and medical cooperation. This agreement aims to establish a cooperation system between the two institutions, fostering mutual development through diverse exchanges in medical advancement, quality healthcare service provision, education, and research. Through the agreement, both institutions will strengthen cooperation in various areas including information exchange for professional training and domestic and international academic conference participation, overseas training dispatches and benchmarking of outstanding institutions necessary for medical advancement, sharing information through various seminars, active collaboration in research activities such as clinical trials, and providing medical services through cooperative treatment and patient referrals, along with community healthcare and regular medical volunteer services.
■Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine announced on the 21st that Yun Young-seok, head of Jaseng Medical Academy, received the 'Minister of Health and Welfare's Commendation for Global Healthcare Contribution' at 'Medical Korea 2025.' The commendation is awarded to individuals and organizations contributing to the advancement and revitalization of the international medical industry, and Yun won it for his efforts in the scientific and global advancement of traditional Korean medicine. Yun has actively led the scientific modernization of traditional medicine in the field of spine and joint disease treatment and has been at the forefront of promoting its excellence globally. Additionally, he has conducted clinical training for 261 foreign medical professionals and medical students from 27 countries, and has been recognized for enhancing the status of traditional Korean medicine through continuous international exchanges.
■Korea University Medical Center announced on the 21st that it will actively engage in research to overcome cancer and rare and difficult diseases through the precision medicine research fund support project with Seoul Clinical Laboratories (SCL). The SCL precision medicine research cooperation fund, established based on the memorandum of understanding signed between Korea University Medical Center and SCL in 2023 with a scale of 3 billion won, will be primarily utilized for four cancer and rare disease-related studies being conducted by the research team at Korea University Medical Center. The selected research projects include the development of source technology for early detection of multiple cancers, early onset cancers in Korea using whole genome sequencing and methylation sequencing, identifying predictive factors and treatment targets for acute myeloid leukemia with TP53 mutation based on high-resolution leukemia cell differentiation pattern analysis, and researching the role of genetic immunity in colorectal cancer.
■Seoul Boramae Hospital announced on the 21st that it will hold a 'special citizen health lecture on cancer conquest' on the 26th at 3 p.m. The 2025 Cancer Conquest special citizen health lecture is designed to provide citizens with cancer information and contribute to health improvement. Professor Shin Dong-hoon from the Infectious Diseases Department will deliver a lecture on 'Strengthening immunity and preventing infections after cancer treatment.' Anyone interested can participate for free without prior registration. This lecture will be the first of a series of lectures held once a month until December.
■The Graduate School of Convergence Health and Medicine at Yonsei University announced on the 21st that it held an opening ceremony in the medical center comprehensive building on the 20th. The event was attended by prominent figures including Yonsei University President Yoon Dong-seob, Vice President and Medical Center Director Geum Gi-chang, National Assembly Member In Yo-han, National Institute of Health Director Park Hyun-young, Yonsei University Alumni Association President Lee Kyung-ryul, Yonsei University Board Member Yang Il-seon, Yonsei University’s 16th President Kim Han-jung, and former Graduate School Dean Yoo Seung-heum. The Graduate School of Convergence Health and Medicine will launch with a total of 32 members, including 18 master's students and 14 doctoral candidates, across 7 majors and 3 departments. The school was established with the goal of nurturing talented individuals to lead the future health and medical industry and creating knowledge through advanced research.
■The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 21st that Minister Cho Kyu-hong held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Health of Romania, Alexandru Rafila, on the 20th at 'Medical Korea 2025.' During the meeting, they discussed measures to strengthen cooperation in ICT-based healthcare systems, training of healthcare professionals, and the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device sectors. Romania requested sharing successful experiences of hospital digitization with Korea and attracting investments in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Following the meeting, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed for cooperation in training healthcare professionals between Romania’s George Emil Palade University and Korea University Guro Hospital.
■The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 21st that it attended the '27th International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) regular meeting' to strengthen mutual cooperation among overseas regulatory agencies in the medical device sector. The event was held in Tokyo, Japan, from the 10th to 14th. IMDRF is a consultative body among regulatory authorities from 11 countries, including the United States and Europe, established to harmonize international medical device regulations. Korea has been a member since 2017 and has been active in the forum. At this meeting, discussions were held on establishing a five-year strategic plan and introducing bilateral consultations between full member and associate member countries, as well as sharing experiences in clinical evaluations of digital therapeutic devices (DTx) among regulatory authorities.
■The Korean Medicine Association, the Korean Society of Traditional Medicine, the Korean Herbal Medicine Association, and 26 other organizations related to traditional Korean medicine held a launch ceremony for the 'Korean Traditional Medicine Organization Federation' in the National Assembly Members' Hall on the 21st. These organizations stated, 'We will promote the advancement of traditional Korean medicine and public health by abolishing regulations that hinder the development of traditional Korean medicine and advancing common policy proposals within the field.'