Korean pharmaceutical and biotech corporations are reorganizing their research and development (R&D) units and speeding up talent recruitment. It is part of strategies to secure mid- to long-term growth engines and to enter global markets, and some analysts say recent government drug pricing policies are dovetailing with this, prompting some corporations to pursue structural shifts aimed at changing their organizational makeup rather than simply adding headcount.
◇ Battle for experienced hires… R&D talent mobility accelerates
On the 7th, according to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co., Boryung, Samjin Pharmaceutical, BCWorld Pharm, and IMBiologics have recently expanded recruitment of experienced hires in R&D, global regulatory affairs, and marketing.
Domestic corporations are also hiring more experienced workers than entry-level staff, and industry officials say this is a trend focused on securing "immediate contributors."
There has also been a series of hires and moves of external leaders. It is an attempt to put outside experts at the forefront to bolster research competitiveness.
This month, SK bioscience streamlined its research organization and hired Executive Vice President Ma Sang-ho. Ma is an expert in pharmaceuticals and vaccine R&D who has worked at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), GC Biopharma, and JW Pharmaceutical.
Ildong Pharmaceutical hired Park Jae-hong, who oversaw R&D at Dong-A ST, as the new head of R&D (president). After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in biotechnology at Yonsei University, Park obtained a Ph.D. from Boston University School of Medicine in the United States and worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School. It is the first case of breaking with the existing practice of mainly promoting from within to put an outside expert fully at the forefront.
In particular, Ildong Pharmaceutical has embarked on restructuring by first downsizing and then expanding its research organization. In 2023, it spun off the R&D institutional sector to establish Yunovia, which reduced its research workforce from the 300s to around 50, but later increased it again to 148 in line with pipeline progress. The organization was also expanded from 10 teams to 16, building a system that covers the entire new drug development cycle, including clinical development, formulation research, and quality control.
By bringing in Park Jae-hong as Deputy Minister of R&D and elevating the unit to report directly to the president, the company is seen as shifting to "commercialization-focused R&D," with an eye toward new drug commercialization and global technology transfer.
Myung In Pharm has expanded external talent recruitment since its KOSPI listing. In particular, it shifted to a professional management-centered structure by establishing a two-top system with CEO Lee Kwan-soon, who served as president and CEO at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and President Cha Bong-kwon, who joined as the first cohort of open recruits at Myung In Pharm in 1990.
It has also begun in earnest to change its organizational operations by placing external hires in key posts across production, quality, and research and development. However, the sales organization remains led by internal personnel to maintain the existing revenue structure, reflecting a phased transition strategy.
Dongwha Pharm also hired Executive Director Jang Jae-won, who worked at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Ilhwa, Yuyu Pharma, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, as head of the research and development headquarters. With Jang's move creating a vacancy, Yuyu Pharma named Executive Director Ryu Hyun-gi—who worked at Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, Kyungnam Pharm, and Pharmbio Korea—to lead its development headquarters.
◇ Pressure to restructure amid drug price cuts… an all-out push to secure global talent
Some also say this trend is tied to changes in the policy environment. Recently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare approved a reform plan to lower the pricing rate for generic drugs from the current 53.55% to 45%. The intent is to reduce medical costs and steer the industry from a generic-centered structure to one focused on new drug development.
As a result, drugmakers face a situation where growth will be difficult unless they strengthen both R&D and global business capabilities. An industry official said, "In the past, sales and production were the competitive edge, but now R&D and global capabilities determine corporations' value, so we are reinforcing personnel and reorganizing accordingly."
Competition to secure talent for global market entry and to win more contracts is also intense.
Medytox hired Executive Director Lee Tae-sang to oversee the clinical development division. Lee worked for more than 20 years at Janssen Korea, overseeing the entire global clinical development cycle and leading approvals in the United States and Europe.
Samsung Biologics expanded its MSAT (Manufacturing Science and Technology) organization and hired Executive Director Bram ten Cate, formerly of BioNTech in Germany.
MSAT is an organization that stably transfers research and development (R&D) stage processes to actual production sites and works to improve Production yield and quality.
As of last year, Samsung Biologics had 609 dedicated research personnel, of whom 297 were responsible for MSAT. Last year, the company also hired Diane Black, formerly of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in the United States, as executive vice president (EVP) and chief quality officer (CQO) to oversee its Quality Management Center.
Samsung Epis Holdings, launched last year, has a total of 620 dedicated R&D personnel. Of these, 158 hold Ph.D.s and 237 hold master's degrees.
Celltrion increased headcount in the research and development institutional sector by 92 from a year earlier. The company's research and development organization is divided into the △ research and development institutional sector, which develops drugs and processes; the △ product development institutional sector, which handles clinical work, regulatory approvals, and interactions with regulators; and the △ Data Science Research Institute, which collects and analyzes data. It added 89 people to the research and development institutional sector from a year earlier. According to last month's business report, total research and development personnel came to 801 (69 with Ph.D.s and 390 with master's degrees).
Hwang Ju-ri, head of external cooperation at the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, said, "For domestic corporations, securing talent with experience in global clinical development and regulatory approvals is critical, but the talent pool is limited," and suggested, "For the future growth of Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech industry, there needs to be national-level policies to cultivate talent."