Former Vice Chairman of Anguk Pharmaceuticals Sentenced to 10 Months in Prison in First Trial for 'Illegal Clinical Trials'

Acknowledgment of Violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act
Not Guilty of Obstruction of Official Duties by Deception
Avoided Court Imprisonment

Eojin, Vice Chairman of Anguk Pharmaceuticals

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The court sentenced Eojin, former vice chairman of Anguk Pharmaceuticals, to imprisonment on charges of conducting illegal clinical trials on employees.

On the afternoon of the 17th, Judge Kim Woo-jung of the Criminal Division 8 at the Seoul Western District Court sentenced former Vice Chairman Eo, who was indicted for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and obstruction of official duties by deception, to 10 months in prison. A, the head of the new drug research department at Anguk Pharmaceuticals' central research institute, who was also tried together, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and B, a CRO (Clinical Research Organization) official, was fined 10 million won. Judge Kim also imposed a fine of 20 million won on Anguk Pharmaceuticals as a corporation.

Judge Kim acknowledged that former Vice Chairman Eo violated the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act but acquitted him of the obstruction of official duties by deception charge. In other words, he was found guilty of conducting unapproved trials but acquitted of manipulating report data for approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. He further stated, "As an operator of a pharmaceutical company, it is necessary to impose corresponding punishment for violations so that the purpose of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act has normative significance."

Regarding A and B, Judge Kim recognized both violations of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and obstruction of official duties by deception but considered their admission of the crimes and the fact that B was a first-time offender as reasons for sentencing.

Considering that some charges against former Vice Chairman Eo and A were acquitted, Judge Kim did not detain them in court, seeing room to dispute the validity of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act violation charges in the appellate trial.

According to the prosecution, during the time former Vice Chairman Eo served as CEO in 2016, they are accused of administering a blood pressure-lowering drug under development to 28 employees of Anguk Pharmaceuticals' central research institute twice without approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. After drug administration, the employees underwent blood collection about 20 times each, and biological equivalence tests using this data were also conducted.

They are also accused of manipulating non-clinical trial results necessary for safety verification during the development of an antithrombotic agent around May 2017.

At the sentencing hearing held on the 6th of last month, the prosecution requested a three-year prison sentence for former Vice Chairman Eo, and two-year and one-year prison sentences respectively for the indicted employees, stating, "This is a case of illegal human experiments at a leading domestic pharmaceutical company." They also requested a fine of 30 million won for Anguk Pharmaceuticals as a corporation.

The defense for former Vice Chairman Eo has argued throughout the trial that "he was never informed about the illegal clinical trials, and if he had been, he would not have approved them."