Cho Uk-je, president and CEO of Yuhan, said, "We are proceeding without a hitch on developing the pipeline (new drug candidates) for the launch of a second Leclaza," adding, "Marking our 100th anniversary, we will strengthen our global competitiveness."
Cho made the remarks at the regular shareholders meeting held on the morning of the 20th at Yuhan's headquarters in Dongjak District, Seoul. Cho said, "The new lung cancer drug Leclaza has entered the global commercialization stage, and a full-scale increase in usage is expected starting this year."
Leclaza became the first domestically developed anticancer drug to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2024. It is a combination therapy used with the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) anticancer drug Rybrevant. Backed by Leclaza and other products, Yuhan posted 2.1866 trillion won in consolidation sales and 104.4 billion won in operating profit last year. Those were up 6% and 90%, respectively, from a year earlier.
Yuhan set a goal to reinvest its earnings into research and development (R&D) to roll out its next blockbuster product. It is currently developing the allergy treatment candidate Lesigercept and the immuno-oncology candidate YH32367, among others.
Cho said, "If the past 100 years were a time of upholding the convictions of the late founder, Yu Il-han, this year is a key moment to establish the direction for a better next 100 years," adding, "We will identify mid- to long-term growth opportunities through global partnerships, open innovation, and strategic research and development."
Yu Il-rin, a director of the Yuhan Foundation and granddaughter of Yu Il-han, also returned from the United States to attend the shareholders meeting. Meeting with a reporter, Yu said, "Marking the 100th anniversary, I hope this will be a year when my grandfather's passion and innovation are revived," adding, "I hope it becomes a good company." Earlier, when Yu Il-han died in 1971, he did not pass management control to his family and left $10,000 to his granddaughter.
The National Pension Service, which holds 7.73% equity in Yuhan, voted in favor of all agenda items at the shareholders meeting. Yuhan plans to allocate 600 won per common share and 610 won per preferred share to shareholders soon. That is up 20% from a year earlier. A proposal to appoint Shin Ui-cheol, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, and Oh In-seo, managing partner at law firm Daeryook & AJU, as outside directors also passed.
Meanwhile, after the shareholders meeting, some shareholders said it was a "perfunctory shareholders meeting," asking, "Why don't you explain the technology that was returned last year?" Earlier, Yuhan had licensed out the metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) candidate YH25724 to C. H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG, but it was returned last year. Yuhan is preparing to develop the candidate in-house.