SM Lee Soo-man Invests 3.6 Billion Won in Obesity Drug Developer After 400 Billion Won Buyout

Interest in Future Industries... Progen Holds 7.23% Stake

Former SM Entertainment Chief Producer Lee Soo-man has been confirmed as a major shareholder of the bio company Progen.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 20th, Progen announced that Lee Soo-man holds a 7.23% stake (1,378,447 shares). Based on the closing price of 2,580 KRW on that day, the value of his shares is approximately 3.6 billion KRW.

Lee Soo-man, former Chief Producer of SM [Photo by SM Entertainment]

Progen is a company developing new drugs using a multi-target antibody-based platform. Its main candidate drug is PG 102 (MG12), a glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 series obesity drug, currently in Phase 1 clinical trials. Earlier this year, it announced animal test results showing significant weight loss effects.

The largest shareholder of Progen is Yuhan Corporation, holding 32.96% (6,285,005 shares), and the second largest shareholder is SL Vigen, where former Genexine Chairman Sung Young-chul is the major shareholder.

Previously, Lee Soo-man earned about 400 billion KRW by transferring his shares to HYBE during the sale process of SM Entertainment in October last year. Recently, he has shown interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) businesses, mainly overseas.

Last month, he showed interest in future technologies by participating as a personal investor in Pablo Aviation, a company specializing in autonomous swarm control of unmanned mobile units. It is reported that he secured about a 20% stake through an initial investment of approximately 1 billion KRW during the early stages of Pablo Aviation's establishment.