DXVX, a KOSDAQ-listed company whose largest shareholder is Kori Group Chairman Lim Jong-yoon, changed its CEO after four months. CEO Kwon Gyu-chan, who was reappointed in March this year while advocating research and development (R&D)-centered management, stepped down, and CEO Yoo Geon-sang will serve as sole CEO.
Chairman Lim is the eldest son of the late Hanmi Group founder Lim Sung-ki. Attention is on the management reshuffle that came after Lim disposed of all Hanmi Science(008930) equity and raised his DXVX equity to the 58% range.
DXVX disclosed that on the 18th it shifted to a sole-CEO structure under CEO Yoo Geon-sang after co-CEO Kwon Gyu-chan resigned for personal reasons.
The company then said on the 19th that it is also pursuing procedures to recruit attorney Kim Young-jong, a legal and policy expert, as a co-CEO candidate. The appointment process will proceed through an extraordinary shareholders meeting and board of directors, among others.
The specific background of former CEO Kwon's resignation was not disclosed. In its filing, the company said only that the reason was "personal reasons."
DXVX is a biohealthcare company that began in 2001 as a genomics diagnostics company. After Chairman Lim Jong-yoon became the largest shareholder in 2021, it expanded its business scope by acquiring Korea Biopharm and Avixgen, among others. It is currently pursuing new drug development alongside distribution and healthcare businesses.
Former CEO Kwon was first appointed CEO of DXVX in Aug. 2023. Having worked at LG Chem, LG Life Sciences, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and having served as head of global business at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Kwon built experience in areas such as drug approvals and overseas business development, including new drug development and global business.
On Mar. 31, at the regular shareholders meeting, Kwon was reappointed as an inside director and his CEO term was extended. At the time, DXVX said it would continue R&D-centered management while pushing to commercialize its key pipelines. However, with Kwon stepping down about four months after his reappointment, the management lineup has changed again.
Successor and new sole CEO Yoo Geon-sang also has ties to Hanmi Group and Chairman Lim Jong-yoon. Yoo is a business strategy and business development expert who worked at Beijing Hanmi IT, Beijing Hanmi Marketing Group (HMG), Ofmom Korea, Kori Pohang, and Korea Biopharm, among others, after starting at a Hanmi Pharmaceutical affiliate.
In 2022, when DXVX appointed Yoo as CEO of Korea Biopharm, which it had made a 100% subsidiary, it introduced him as a business strategy veteran who had served as the closest aide to then-Hanmi Pharmaceutical President Lim Jong-yoon.
◇ Hanmi equity sold, 100 billion won injected into DXVX
The funds Chairman Lim has injected into DXVX have exceeded 100 billion won. In Dec. last year, Lim participated in DXVX's third-party paid-in capital increase and acquired 49.21 million common shares at 2,027 won per share. The investment totaled about 99.7 billion won. As a result, his personal equity stake rose from 15.41% to 57.70%.
He then continued open-market purchases. By buying an additional total of 621,149 shares in January, April, and July this year, he now holds 57,415,138 shares, and his equity stake has risen to 58.33%. The funds invested in the capital increase and open-market purchases total about 102.4 billion won.
By contrast, he unwound his Hanmi Science equity. From the end of 2024 to March this year, Lim disposed of Hanmi Science shares in stages, securing a total of 285.6 billion won. Including the sales by his spouse and three children, the Hanmi Science equity sold by Lim's family amounts to about 404.6 billion won.
At the same time as unwinding Hanmi Science equity, Lim injected large sums into DXVX, leading to analysis that his business center of gravity has shifted toward DXVX and Kori Group.
In particular, Kori Group, controlled by Lim, is pursuing a Hong Kong listing. Kori Co., Ltd. first filed a listing pre-review application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Dec. last year and resubmitted the application in June.
Ahead of the listing, Kori plans to unwind credit-debt and guarantee relationships with controlling shareholders and related parties to secure financial and managerial independence. However, whether it can attract cornerstone investors, major institutional investors, is also seen as a key variable for the listing.
Amid this trend, with Kwon, who handled R&D at Hanmi Group, stepping down and efforts underway to recruit attorney Kim Young-jong, who served as Kori's head of legal, as co-CEO, changes are also expected in the role and character of DXVX's management.
◇ Kori pushes Hong Kong IPO, builds independent financing base
As Kori seeks to build an independent financing base through a Hong Kong IPO, there is analysis that DXVX is carrying out a management reshuffle to support Chairman Lim's business base.
Attorney Kim Young-jong worked at the prosecution and a law firm, served as head of legal (executive vice president) at POSCO Holdings and as executive vice president overseeing legal affairs at Kori. He is also known as the prosecutor who engaged in a heated debate with former President Roh Moo-hyun during the "Conversation with Prosecutors" in 2003. He has since worked in the corporate legal field.
DXVX plans to strengthen corporate legal and compliance systems by bringing in Kim and to respond to legal and regulatory risks that may arise in domestic and overseas business processes. The company said it is also seeking to hire an expert from Imperial College London to bolster technology transfer, licensing, and global business development capabilities.
Attention is on what changes this management reshuffle will bring to DXVX's business direction and its relationship with Kori Group.
Improving performance is a key task for DXVX. On a consolidation basis for the first half of this year, sales were 13.06 billion won, operating loss was 11.29 billion won, and net loss was 11.64 billion won.
Last year's sales were 29.36 billion won, down from the previous year, and operating loss came to 24.32 billion won. As of the end of June this year, the accumulated deficit was 162.9 billion won. However, total liabilities fell about 60%, from 59.1 billion won at the end of last year to 23.6 billion won at the end of June this year.