Former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyung-pil officially took office as chair of the biotech company GemVax & KAEL and moved to the forefront of management.
Senior adviser Kim Sang-jae (former chair), the largest shareholder of GemVax & KAEL, stepped back from the front line of management to focus on research and development (R&D), while Chair Nam assumed management, commercialization, and market communications in a role-sharing structure. The move is seen as a reorganization of the management system to strengthen communication with the market and build trust in corporations.
On the 17th, GemVax & KAEL held the "Chair Nam Kyung-pil inauguration and vision declaration" at the Korea Exchange (KRX) conference hall in Yeouido, Seoul. Chair Nam Kyung-pil said, "GemVax & KAEL is a company like a hidden gem," adding, "We will properly inform the market of our strong research results, raise corporate value, and leap into a global corporations."
That day, GemVax & KAEL disclosed that the voting rights attached to the stakes held by the largest shareholder Gem & Company and senior adviser Kim Sang-jae were delegated to Chair Nam. Although Nam's personal equity is around 0.13%, the delegation of the largest shareholder's voting rights has put Nam in effective charge of management responsibility.
Addressing concerns about a figure from politics stepping to the forefront of corporate management, Chair Nam drew a line, calling it "a strong responsible management structure based on delegated voting rights." Nam said, "We will delegate authority to the best expert team, including CEO Lee Seok-joon and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Moon Hyung-sik, and make decisions together through discussion, but I will lead the company by holding all voting rights and taking responsibility."
Chair Nam presented "open," "delegation," and "trust" as management direction keywords, emphasizing transparent communication and disclosure, expert-centered delegation of authority, and building trust with shareholders and the market.
Founder and former Chair Kim Sang-jae, who chose a leadership transition, said, "GemVax & KAEL has sometimes been misunderstood as a company that only writes research papers, but we have now reached the stage where the flower bud has formed," adding, "We chose Chair Nam Kyung-pil, who has the ability and decisiveness, as the right person to make this flower bloom fully." Kim said, "I will focus more on research."
◇ Two-track of semiconductor filters and new drugs… a decisive bet on GV1001
GemVax & KAEL's business structure largely consists of KAEL (environment division), which runs a chemical-ware filter business for semiconductor and display processes, and GemVax & KAEL (bio division), which is responsible for new drug research and development.
GemVax & KAEL CEO Lee Seok-joon said, "Our strength is that we can continue long-term new drug development based on stable cash flow." KAEL's revenue last year was about 70 billion won, with net profit of about 17.4 billion won.
GemVax & KAEL's core research and development (R&D) pipeline is GV1001. At the event, experts shared GV1001's scientific mechanism and research results.
First, Asan Medical Center neurology professor Lee Jae-hong introduced GV1001's mechanism of action (MoA) and its potential to treat progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Lee explained, "GV1001 is a multi-mechanism drug that simultaneously modulates key pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, including abnormal tau protein accumulation, neuroinflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction."
PSP, the primary indication targeted by GV1001, is a rare degenerative neurological disease that causes gait disturbance and oculomotor dysfunction, and there are currently no approved treatments for this indication. The company said its goal is to develop GV1001 as a first-in-class new drug.
GemVax & KAEL CSO Moon Hyung-sik (University of Southern California professor) said of the domestic phase 2 and extension study results in PSP, "Early trials had a small number of patients, limiting statistical significance, but in some patients with fast disease progression (Richardson syndrome), we confirmed meaningful treatment effects."
According to the company, long-term follow-up of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) showed that the GV1001 treatment group tended to have a slower rate of disease progression compared with an external control group (placebo group). In particular, it said that matching-adjusted indirect comparison (MAIC) analysis showed a statistically significant difference. Moon said, "Based on these results, we gained confidence for the next stages of development, including domestic phase 3 and global trials."
The company plans to expand GV1001's indications to Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease). It said that in Korea it is undergoing conditional approval review for a PSP treatment, and overseas, including the United States, it is pushing to enter global trials for neurodegenerative diseases including PSP.
Ryu Hoon, head of the Center for Neuroscience at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Brain Science Institute, said, "In an ALS animal model, GV1001 improved motor function and extended survival," adding, "We are preparing to enter clinical trials."
The company said that although the basic compound patent for GV1001 has expired, key use patents related to PSP are protected until 2042, and that it can secure market exclusivity through use patents related to neurodegenerative diseases such as PSP and through orphan drug designation (ODD).
◇ "Speeding trials through restoring market trust and attracting institutional investment"
To fund clinical trials, the company also signaled plans to expand fundraising focused on institutional investors.
Chair Nam noted, "Until now, the reality for GemVax & KAEL has been fundraising centered on retail investors," adding, "Under the new management system, we will immediately begin efforts to attract institutional investment based on market trust."
Nam also said, "If necessary, we will consider capital expansion through a rights offering." The strategy is to put PSP trials on a successful track with capital accumulated through rights offerings and other means, and then extend funding to next-generation pipelines such as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Nam said, "Communication with shareholders, the market, and the capital market has been lacking," adding, "We will communicate actively with the market through regular IR and shareholder meetings, and hold discussions with top experts."
Nam emphasized, "Medicine advances through proof, and a company through trust," adding, "We will serve as a sturdy bridge so that GemVax & KAEL's excellent research results can take root successfully in the market and ultimately reach patients."
Meanwhile, the event drew a large turnout of figures from politics, business, and medicine, including Samchully Co. Chair Lee Man-duk, KG Group Chair Kwak Jae-sun, JS Corporation Chair Hong Jae-sung, Danal Group Chair Park Sung-chan, Hoban Group Managing Director Kim Dae-heon, Samsung Electronics President Park Seung-hee, Organica Chair Hong Jung-wook, and Bundang Seoul National University Hospital Director Jeon Young-tae.