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Pharmaceuticals

South Korea's biotech ambitions overshadowed by scandals

Clinical failures and fraud allegations overshadow industry touted as next frontier

An accounting scandal has rocked Samsung Biologics, which was supposed to be a new cash cow for South Korea's Samsung group. (Courtesy of Samsung Biologics)

SEOUL -- Investors cheered when Samsung Biologics announced Wednesday that its operating profit for the previous quarter had more than doubled on the year. Its share price accordingly shot up -- despite South Korea's financial regulators warning just a week before that biomedicine remains a risky investor bet.

That rare warning was prompted by a series of scandals and setbacks for an industry that was supposed to represent the next frontier for South Korea's economy.

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