10-Jul-16 In a medical power shift in Asia, China is catching up fast with Korea and even Japan. Although it is still unclear how much money China spends on medical R&D, the country now makes up 20% of the world's total R&D expenditures, second only after the US (27%), according to the 2016 Science & Engineering Indicators report. [image: Korea Times / Jung Min-ho]

30-Jun-16 H&Surgical, one of 169 businesses that accompanied President Park Geun-hye to Iran in May 2016, secured a contract worth USD2 mn over three years. Local partners will import finished or semi-finished products or participate in production. These partners will also export localized H&Surgical products to nearby countries in the Middle East. [image: Business Korea]

13-Jun-16 The number of wearable device users in Korea skyrocketed from 50,237 to 510,066 between 2014 and Apr-16. The number is based on SIM cards provided by mobile carriers. Nevertheless, industry insiders point out that the lack of software developers and complicated product certification are still hampering growth of the market. [image: Business Korea]

07-Jun-16 Korea is pushing ahead with a nationwide telemedicine platform despite strong opposition from doctors. Korea revised its Medicine Law in 2002 to allow only telemedicine consults between clinicians, preventing them from treating patients. In renewing the call for a national platform, officials said the service would be limited to “residents with specific medical, social or geographic conditions.” [image: mHealth Intelligence]

11-May-16 Japan is home to four of the world’s top 10 innovative medical device companies, including the world leader Olympus, according to the 2016 State of Innovation Report. China, Korea, Europe and the US are also listed in the global top 10. The medical devices sector clocked 27% growth in year-on-year patent volume in 2015, followed by pharmaceuticals at 4%. [image: Mestec]