Pharmaceutical firms striving to keep afloat

The combined revenues of 70 pharmaceutical companies listed on the local bourse rose 2.6 percent to 5.6 trillion won in the first six months of this year from the previous year, according to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.

But their combined first-half operating profit plummeted 37.1 percent to 395.1 billion won over the one-year period, with net profit dropping 29.3 percent...