Korean new drug development corporations are moving to strengthen their overseas business capabilities by successively recruiting people from global pharmaceutical companies and large corporations. They are seeking to move beyond research and development (R&D)-centered structures to secure talent with experience spanning global clinical trials, regulatory approvals, business development (BD), and commercialization, in order to boost execution for entering overseas markets.
According to the industry on the 8th, global talent recruitment with overseas business experience has recently been picking up among domestic bio corporations. As investor sentiment in Korea's bio sector weakens and funding conditions for tech-special listing corporations deteriorate, it has become harder to secure growth engines solely in the domestic market, prompting a wider push to find new breakthroughs through overseas clinical trials, technology transfer, and collaboration with global pharmaceutical companies.
◇ Global clinical trials and approvals gather pace…securing R&D experts
Corporations pursuing overseas clinical trials and regulatory approvals are focusing on securing talent with experience in global new drug development. The goal is to bring in expertise that can lead candidates from late-stage clinical development through approval and commercialization, and to strengthen development strategies with key regulators such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
MEDIPOST(078160) on the 2nd hired former Samsung Biologics(207940) Executive Vice President Min Ho-sung as president. After an extraordinary shareholders meeting and board approval, the company plans to appoint Min as CEO and shift to a co-CEO system with current CEO Oh Won-il.
Currently, MEDIPOST's key task is expanding overseas commercialization. The country's first stem cell therapy, "Cartistem," has been sold for more than 10 years since approval, but annual sales have stagnated at around 20 billion won. With clear growth limits in the domestic market, the company needs to expand overseas, focusing on Japan and the United States.
Based on the results of the phase 3 trial in Japan, the company plans to apply for product approval to Japanese regulators in the second half of this year. If approved, it aims to begin sales through local partner Teikoku Pharma from the end of next year. In the United States, it recently completed the first patient enrollment and dosing for phase 3, and is conducting a registrational trial with about 300 patients across more than 70 sites in the United States and Canada.
Under the co-CEO structure, roles for domestic and overseas businesses are also expected to be divided. CEO Oh is set to oversee domestic businesses, including Cartistem, the good manufacturing practice (GMP) center, cord blood, and health functional foods, while President Min is expected to oversee the Global Business Division, the U.S. and Japan subsidiaries, and Canadian contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) affiliate OmniaBio. Overseas clinical trials, business development, and global commercialization strategy are expected to be Min's core roles.
With global clinical trials and commercialization moving into full swing, corporations are increasingly hiring hands-on experts who have directly led development and approvals.
Proteina(468530) recently hired Executive Director Lee Sung-young, formerly of Celltrion(068270) and Yuhan(000100), as the expert to lead global clinical development and approvals for its osteoarthritis candidate "PRT-101."
Lee handled clinical development for 24 years at the National Cancer Center, Celltrion, and Yuhan's immuno-oncology subsidiary ImmuneOncia Therapeutics(424870). At Celltrion, Lee worked on obtaining approvals for a specific antibody drug in 88 countries and also served at overseas branches in Singapore and Shanghai. Until July, for about four years, Lee led development of major pipelines, including the immuno-oncology candidate "Danverstotug," at ImmuneOncia Therapeutics.
Lee has experience across the clinical and approval spectrum, from clinical protocol design to the statistical analysis plan (SAP), clinical study report (CSR), and preparation of the common technical document (CTD) required for approval. At Proteina, Lee is expected to oversee global clinical and approval strategies for PRT-101.
PRT-101 is an osteoarthritis therapy under development to regenerate damaged cartilage and relieve pain. Unlike existing therapies that mainly focus on pain relief, it directly modulates proteins involved in cartilage formation. Proteina plans to complete the ongoing preclinical studies and then focus on technology transfer and global commercialization starting next year.
◇ Targeting tech exports and big pharma collaborations…recruiting global BD talent
More corporations are also strengthening business development (BD) capabilities to expand technology exports and partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies. They are moving to secure talent with hands-on experience necessary for real business expansion, including technology transfer negotiations, discovering overseas partners, and engaging investors.
GC 녹십자 subsidiary GC Cell(144510) last month hired Son Ju-hee, formerly head of business development at Lotte Biologics. Son handled R&D strategy and business development at the Dong-A Socio Holdings(000640) group, and then oversaw global business development strategy at Lotte Biologics.
At GC Cell, Son will handle overseas technology transfer, strategic partnerships, and new business development. Key tasks include additional technology transfers for the commercial product "Immuncell-LC Injection" and expanding global partnerships for its in-house CAR-NK platform.
At GC Cell, Son is responsible for overseas technology transfer, strategic partnerships, and new business development. Additional technology transfers for the commercial product "Immuncell-LC Injection" and expanding global partnerships for its in-house CAR-NK platform are also key tasks. CAR-NK cell therapies are next-generation immuno-oncology treatments that combine a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), which recognizes cancer cells, with natural killer (NK) cells.
Movement of personnel between GC Cell and Lotte Biologics is also drawing industry attention. Former GC Cell CEO James Park moved to become CEO of Lotte Biologics at the end of 2024, and the following year hired Jeon Ji-won—who had worked together at GC Cell on global business development—as head of strategic planning at Lotte Biologics. Subsequently, as a former Lotte Biologics executive moved back to GC Cell, the two companies appear to be continuing to exchange global business talent.
In addition to technology exports and discovering overseas partners, corporations are also bringing in talent with investor relations (IR) and business strategy capabilities.
Curocell(372320), which is about to launch Korea's first chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T; "Kati") therapy, "RIMQARTO," earlier this month hired Executive Director Jung Dae-young—who had overseen BD and IR at LigaChem Biosciences(141080)—as head of strategic communications.
At LigaChem Biosciences, Jung served as IR team Director General, senior manager of the IR·BD Team, and Head of Team before being promoted to executive at the end of last year. Early this year, Jung led the Technology Business Strategy Center, overseeing IR, business development, and overall technology business strategy.
Curocell's latest hire is meaningful in that it comes as the company shifts from a research and development-centered corporation to the commercialization stage. RIMQARTO, which received product approval from the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety in April, is set to undergo a reimbursement suitability assessment, followed by price negotiations and the reimbursement listing process.
Overseas business development is also expanding. Curocell recently began local co-development of RIMQARTO with Türkiye's Biruni Group. The companies will jointly pursue local approval and commercialization and provide support for CAR-T manufacturing and quality control technology. As the company moves beyond the domestic launch to enter overseas markets in earnest, the role of talent with experience in technology business and partnering is expected to grow.
Domestic bio corporations have shown results in candidate discovery and early clinical trials, but have been seen as lacking experience in late-stage clinical development, global approvals, technology transfer negotiations, and commercialization. Corporations are now successively bringing in global development and business development experts to fill this gap.
An industry source said, "If, in the past, domestic bio corporations aimed to prove their technology and export it, now more corporations are considering conducting global clinical trials directly and even commercialization," adding, "Securing talent with experience negotiating with global regulators and big pharma, and with overseas networks, will be a key factor in corporate competitiveness going forward."