Korea Q1 Roundup: Pharma Begins To Feel Impact From Doctors’ Walkout

Mainstays Generally Strong

As South Korea's doctors continue their long-running protest against a government plan to raise the medical student quota at universities, the walk-outs may be beginning to take a toll on the pharma industry, with many large firms reporting weak earnings in the last quarter.

hospital chaos
Q1 Korean Pharma Earnings Sag Amid Disruptions At Hospitals • Source: Shutterstock

The South Korean pharma industry is beginning to feel the fallout from the prolonged national walkout by trainee doctors that began in February.

Although the overall impact from the medical strike appears to be limited so far, sales of drugs related to surgeries in particular appear to be taking a hit,

“It may not be easy to expect robust first-quarter earnings because of the prolonged medical disruptions stemming from junior doctors’ walkouts,” Kiwoom Securities observed in a recent research note. However, major pharma firms such as Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co

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