With the arrival of the New Year, the Year of the Eulsa, leaders born in the Year of the Snake who are active in the pharmaceutical and bio industries are gaining attention. This year, amid global economic downturns and uncertainties in the market due to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election, focus is on their leadership in seeking research and development (R&D) investments and new growth engines.
According to the pharmaceutical and bio industry on the 2nd, among leaders born in 1953 is Kim Han-ki, chairman of SINSIN PHARM. Kim, the son-in-law of the late Honorary Chairman Lee Yeong-soo, joined SINSIN PHARM in 1986 and rose to represent the company in 2003 after holding various key positions. He has since established a central research institute with the honorary chairman to strengthen R&D capabilities and led the company through its initial public offering (IPO) in 2016.
Kim led the birth of the flagship product, SINSIN PATCH ALEX, earning the title of a patch expert. He has also worked to elevate the status of the Korean pharmaceutical industry globally by serving as president of the Korea Pharmaceutical Export-Import Association.
The leader born in 1965, who is celebrating their 60th birthday this year, is Seong Mu-je, CEO of ST PHARM. Seong was appointed as CEO of ST PHARM, a subsidiary of Dong-A Socio Holdings, in June last year. After graduating from Korea University with a degree in chemistry, Seong obtained a master’s in organic chemistry from Sogang University and completed a doctoral program at Harvard University in the U.S., where he worked for about 20 years at Novartis, participating in various new drug research projects.
ST PHARM focuses on the contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) business of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). Specifically, it has risen to the global third place in oligonucleotide CDMO, the key raw material for mRNA therapeutics, and secured CDMO capacity for the oligonucleotide plant, which is expected to be completed early this year. Oligonucleotides are polymers made by linking multiple nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA and RNA. ST PHARM plans to use its self-developed capping technology, 'SmartCap,' which stabilizes the synthesis of mRNA by capping the end of mRNA molecules with nucleotides, as a stepping stone for future mRNA CDMO contracts. It remains to be seen if Seong can lead the CDMO business for oligonucleotides this year, contributing to sales growth.
Lee Chang-jae, born in 1977, is noted as a leader. Since 2002, Lee has gained field experience at Daewoong Pharmaceutical, progressing from sales of prescription drugs to marketing, and has served as head of the prescription drug sales and marketing division, head of management, and vice president before being appointed as new CEO in 2021. He successfully renewed his term last year and will continue to lead Daewoong Pharmaceutical this year. Now part of the 1 trillion won revenue club, attention is focused on what achievements he will reach this year.
Lim Jong-hoon, CEO of Hanmi Science, is also a Snake leader born in 1977. As the second son of the late Lim Seong-ki, founder of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, he has been involved in a management dispute with his mother, Song Yeong-sook, and sister, Lim Joo-hyun, since early last year. The recent sale of the stake by his older brother, Lim Jong-yun, to the mother-daughter side ended the management dispute, marking an effective defeat for Lim. As his dismissal is set to be a special agenda at the Hanmi Science regular shareholders' meeting in March, interest is focused on Lim's future.
Leaders born in 1989 include Choi Yoon-jeong, head of business development at SK Biopharm (vice president), and Yun In-sang, head of strategic planning at Huons Global. Choi, the eldest daughter of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, was promoted to vice president in the group’s executive appointment at the end of 2023. Last month, she was appointed to lead the newly established 'growth support' sector within SK Holdings to discover future growth businesses. Choi is expected to focus on seeking future revenue streams, leveraging her experience in the bio business.
SK Biopharm's flagship product, cenobamate, a treatment for epilepsy, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019 and has become the company’s primary cash cow. Building on this, the company plans to focus on developing next-generation modalities, including targeted protein degradation therapies (TPD), radiopharmaceuticals (RPT), and cell therapies (CGT). In August last year, it secured therapeutic radi isotopes by signing a supply contract for high-purity actinium (Ac)-225 with TerraPower, a small modular reactor (SMR) company. This contract is reported to have been led by Choi. TerraPower is a company in which SK Group made a leading investment of 300 billion won in 2022.
Choi has been expanding her management role, attending the SK Group CEO seminar held at the end of October last year and also showing up at the SK AI Summit 2024 on the 4th of last month. She studied biology at the University of Chicago and has worked as a researcher at the University of Chicago's neuroscience institute and as a consultant at Bain & Company. In 2017, she joined SK Biopharm as a senior manager in the management strategy office and took a leave of absence to pursue a master’s in bioinformatics at Stanford University in the U.S. She returned in July 2021 and was promoted to head of the strategic investment team at the global investment headquarters before becoming vice president a year later, making her the youngest executive within the group.
Yun In-sang was promoted to executive director at Huons and Huons Global in July last year. He is the grandson of the late Yun Myung-yong, founder of Huons Group, and the eldest son of Yun Seong-tae, the current chairman of Huons Group. He graduated from Emory University with a degree in chemistry and joined Huons in 2018, having worked in various roles, including local business division, marketing, and development. Following his succession, Yun is expected to focus on uncovering new growth engines rather than taking center stage in management.
Huons Group has expanded its business into medical devices, health supplements, and cosmetics and is currently focusing on developing treatments for dry eye disease in the new drug sector. Recently, it has consolidated its R&D capabilities at the newly completed Huons Dongam Research Institute last September, emphasizing future revenue streams in obesity and diabetes drug development. It is developing key technology to transform peptide drugs, which are injectable forms for obesity treatment, into oral formulations in pill form. This strategy aims to increase the convenience of administration and compete in the obesity drug market.