GC Cell with Changed Representative Player "Will Be a New Starting Point"

James Park, New CEO of GC Cell
Photo by GC Cell

GC Cell (GC Cell) announced a new beginning with the appointment of James Park, former Vice President of Samsung Biologics, as its new CEO.

On the 28th, GC Cell held its 12th regular shareholders' meeting at the GC Green Cross R&D Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and resolved key agenda items including the appointment of inside directors. Through this, former Vice President Park and former K2B Therapeutics Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) Kim Ho-won were newly appointed as inside directors of GC Cell. At the board meeting held immediately after the shareholders' meeting, Director Park was officially appointed as CEO of GC Cell.

New CEO Park led contract manufacturing organization (CMO) sales activities as head of the Global Sales Center at Samsung Biologics. Born in 1966, he holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and a master's degree in industrial engineering from Columbia University. He subsequently worked in product development at Merck in the U.S., served as director in charge of business development (BD) at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), and joined Samsung Biologics in 2015 as Vice President of Global Business Development. He is recognized for playing a pivotal role in numerous global company CMO contracts at Samsung Biologics while leading the Global Sales Center.

Kim, the new director expected to serve as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at GC Cell, graduated from Seoul National University College of Pharmacy, earned a master's degree in immunology from the same university's graduate school, and obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry from UCLA School of Medicine. He has led cell therapy research at global biotech companies such as Stemgent, Origin, and Stemcell Technology, and most recently co-founded the biotech company K2B Therapeutics based in Boston, U.S., where he served as CSO leading anticancer drug development.

CEO Park said, “2023 will be a new starting point that determines the company's sustainable growth,” adding, “With the new management team at the forefront, we will set growth-oriented management goals through strong execution guidelines and operate the company as a performance-driven organization.”

Kim Ho-won, New GC Cell CTO [Photo by GC Cell]

On the same day, GC Cell declared its new vision under the new CEO system as “Global Creator of Cell & Gene Therapy,” planning to establish a new identity based on GC Cell’s potential and secure future growth engines.

Going forward, the company plans to focus all its capabilities on advancing its pipeline and platform technologies through expanded research and development (R&D) investment, and on becoming a global top-tier cell and gene therapy (CGT) company by developing innovative first-in-class drugs that meet global standards. In particular, to support global expansion, GC Cell intends to vigorously promote organizational reform, strategic market targeting, and improvements in work methods. At the same time, it will select key tasks to strengthen competitiveness in existing business sectors and further enhance communication within the organization to stabilize operations.

Meanwhile, at the shareholders' meeting, GC Cell reported its performance for the previous year, with consolidated sales of 236.1 billion KRW, operating profit of 44.3 billion KRW, and net profit of 24.2 billion KRW.