North Korea

Amid ongoing talks to denuclearize North Korea, the two Koreas are gearing up for bilateral cooperation in various industries including the health and medical sector, if and when international sanctions on the North are lifted. A new report suggests possible ways the two sides can initially work together in the area, with a focus on infectious diseases.

Following the signing of the Panmunjeom Declaration after their recent historic summit, North and South Korea are poised to resume economic cooperation, including projects in the healthcare sector, in line with an agreement the two sides reached in 2007. Although progress will likely depend on the upcoming summit between the US and North Korea and whether international sanctions are lifted, hopes over direct inter-Korean exchanges are brewing.

As political talks gain momentum, the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea could be the starting point of possible healthcare cooperation with the South, once the relationship between the two countries improves, a South Korean official report suggests. 

Herbal-derived drug development on the Korean peninsula is poised to get an initial boost once the relationship between the North and South improves, although it is uncertain how the possible easing of tensions between the two countries will broadly affect South Korea's pharma sector.

Samsung Bioepis' biosimilar version of Amgen's rheumatoid arthritis blockbuster Enbrel (etanercept) is set to become the firm’s first biosimilar product to hit the market, possibly being released in South Korea late this year and in Europe in the first half of next year.

Hormel flexes Muscle Milk for protein; Hangover prevention claims are disease claims; Mira Health cannot resume supplement production without FDA permission; Batch production records require details; Laclede needs drug approval for vaginal products and U.S. & Korea ink organic equivalency agreement.

Hormel flexes Muscle Milk for protein; Hangover prevention claims are disease claims; Mira Health cannot resume supplement production without FDA permission; Batch production records require details; Laclede needs drug approval for vaginal products and U.S. & Korea ink organic equivalency agreement.

Despite regulatory investigations spurred by activist investor Bill Ackman, Herbalife reported its 18th consecutive earnings period of record sales, executives with the direct seller say. First-quarter global sales increased 12.4% to $1.3 billion with growth in five of its six regions.

Despite regulatory investigations spurred by activist investor Bill Ackman, Herbalife reported its 18th consecutive earnings period of record sales, executives with the direct seller say. First-quarter global sales increased 12.4% to $1.3 billion with growth in five of its six regions.

CEO William Johnson says the firm had “another record performance of double-digit growth while under the constant and unrelenting attack” by activist investor William Ackman. Herbalife executives have met with Sen. Edward Markey’s staff and say they have answered the questions he asked in a January letter.