Hugel and Medipost Welcome New Owners... "Leap into Overseas Markets"

Aggressive Moves After Change of Major Shareholder
Challenge to Become a Global Company

Hugel Recruits 'Big Name' Director Sanders
Led Success of Botox and Fillers at Allergan

Medipost Acquires Canadian CDMO
Expected to Be a Foothold for North American Market Entry

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Recently, Hugel and Medipost, whose major shareholders have changed, are attracting attention in the pharmaceutical and bio industries with their aggressive moves. These companies are expected to accelerate their overseas market expansion through large-scale investments, recruitment of high-profile personnel, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Hugel Recruits Global Heavyweight

According to industry sources on the 29th, Hugel held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders at the Chuncheon Bears Hotel in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, where its headquarters is located, and approved the appointment of Brenton Saunders, former CEO and Chairman of Allergan (now AbbVie), as an outside director.

Director Saunders is regarded as a heavyweight in the global pharmaceutical, bio, and healthcare industries. In particular, he served as CEO and Chairman of Allergan for five years from 2015 to 2020, leading the success of botulinum toxin product 'Botox' and filler brand 'Juvederm.' He was also responsible for the major M&A deal worth $63 billion (approximately 80 trillion KRW) between AbbVie and Allergan in 2020. Besides Allergan, he has held positions such as President of the Global Consumer Division at Schering-Plough, Chairman and CEO of Bausch & Lomb, Chairman of the American pharmaceutical company Forest Laboratories, and CEO of Vesper Healthcare.

Brenton Saunders Hugel Director

This recruitment is the first move since the major shareholder of Hugel changed to Aphrodite Acquisition Holdings in April. Aphrodite is a multinational consortium consisting of CBC Group, a Singapore-based global healthcare-focused investment fund (42.11% stake), an SPC jointly invested by GS and domestic private equity firm IMM Investment (42.11% stake), and Mubadala’s investment company from the Middle East sovereign wealth fund (10.53% stake).

After becoming the largest shareholder of Hugel, Aphrodite stated it would support Hugel to grow into a 'global medical aesthetic leading company.' The appointment of Director Saunders is interpreted as part of this effort. Hugel has already entered the Chinese and European markets with its flagship botulinum toxin product 'Botulax,' and plans to launch in North America, including the United States and Canada, next year.

A Hugel official explained, "Director Saunders' expertise and global experience will be a great support for our leap into the global market." Hugel is reportedly planning to hold a board meeting to appoint Director Saunders as the chairman of the board.

Medipost Enters Cell and Gene Therapy CDMO

Exterior view of Medipost headquarters in Pangyo, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province (Photo by Medipost)

Medipost, whose nominal major shareholder changed to Sky Medi LLC on the 24th, is also accelerating its global market entry. The actual major shareholders are a private equity fund (PEF) consortium jointly invested by Skylake Equity Partners and Crescendo Equity Partners. The consortium's shares are split 50-50 between the two companies.

Medipost has decided to acquire OmniaBio, a cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) headquartered in Canada. OmniaBio has process development and cGMP-level contract manufacturing facilities for autologous and allogeneic cell therapies, iPSC, gene therapies, viral vectors, and a customer network. This acquisition is expected to serve as a foothold for Medipost's entry into the North American market. Additionally, it has secured a strategic production base early to advance the Phase 3 clinical trial of 'Cartistem,' a knee osteoarthritis treatment, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the clinical and commercialization efforts for the injectable osteoarthritis treatment 'SMUP-IA-01.'

A Medipost official said, "We plan to lay the foundation to become a global company this year," adding, "Skylake and Crescendo already have diverse investment experience and successful cases in various industries, making them the most reliable partners to enhance Medipost's corporate value and global market expansion."