Founding aides in their 60s who helped grow Celltrion are stepping down or nearing retirement, signaling a generational shift. In business circles, there is a view that the "brother management" structure of CEO Seo Jin-seok, the son of Chairman Seo Jung-Jin, and Senior Vice Chairman Seo Jun-seok will gain momentum.
According to business circles on the 13th, Celltrion is seen as likely to shift to a sole-CEO system under Seo Jin-seok after 2029. Previously, Vice Chairman Kim Hyung-ki, Vice Chairman Ki Woo-sung, and CEO Seo Jin-seok each served as co-CEOs. Aside from the eldest son, CEO Seo, Vice Chairmen Kim and Ki are founding members who joined the company after building ties with Chairman Seo when he was at Daewoo Motor.
Vice Chairman Kim, who oversaw global sales, left the company in March for personal reasons. Vice Chairman Ki was reappointed at this year's shareholders meeting and has a term remaining through 2029. Ki said, "I will work hard during my term," but noted, "Many juniors have grown, and I feel I should hand things over soon." At the time, Chairman Seo hinted that once Vice Chairman Ki retires, the company would naturally transition to a sole-CEO system.
Celltrion also recently saw the retirement of President Yoon Jeong-won, who had served as an adviser to the engineering division. A former GC (Green Cross) executive, Yoon joined in 2002, in the company's early days, and served as head of manufacturing plants. Vice Chairmen Kim and Ki and President Yoon are all in their 60s. In business circles, some say, "The key contributors who grew Celltrion, launched with 50 million won in capital, into a global company seem to have fulfilled their roles and are leaving or considering retirement."
At the same time, attention in business circles is turning to second-generation owners CEO Seo Jin-seok and Vice Chairman Seo Jun-seok. Seo, the CEO, oversees the management division, while the vice chairman has served as head of North America. Celltrion is achieving sales results for biosimilars (biologic drugs) in the United States and Canada.
The group's governance structure runs from Chairman Seo Jung-Jin to Celltrion Holdings to Celltrion. As of the end of last year, the chairman held 98.13% equity in Celltrion Holdings. Celltrion Holdings owns 24.44% equity in Celltrion. The chairman also directly holds 4.03% equity in Celltrion. The CEO (3,254 shares) and the vice chairman (0 shares) effectively hold 0% equity in Celltrion.
Business circles say there is no clear solution because the inheritance tax would be massive. A Celltrion official said, "Nothing specific has been decided regarding succession at this time," adding, "Any change in the management structure requires board approval."
Celltrion is expanding its overseas business and accelerating new drug development beyond biosimilars. The company recently acquired 100% equity in the French company Giphar, securing about 9,000 local pharmacy sales outlets. Last year, it acquired a plant in New Jersey from Eli Lilly and Company, establishing a production base.
Celltrion is developing a next-generation obesity drug and recently began animal testing. It is a quadruple-agonist obesity therapy aimed at reducing muscle loss. If preclinical results this year are favorable, the company plans to enter phase 1 clinical trials next year. In addition, it is developing an ADC (antibody-drug conjugate). By attaching a drug to an antibody to precisely destroy cancer cells, the technology reduces side effects while boosting treatment efficacy.
In the first quarter this year, Celltrion posted consolidated revenue of 1.145 trillion won and operating profit of 321.9 billion won. Those figures rose 36% and 116%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. A company official said, "This is the highest first-quarter performance on record," adding, "We expect to achieve this year's target revenue of 5.3 trillion won."