Personnel Loss After La D?fense Partner's Management Participation
23 Executives Including 14 PhD-Level Talents Leave
Since Ladepangseu Partners, an ally of Song Young-sook, Chairwoman of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, began actively participating in management, it has been reported that a large number of new drug development talents loyal to the late Chairman Lim Sung-gi have left. Given that these talents had been working with Chairman Lim on new drug development for nearly 20 years, there are claims that the legacy of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, which has lasted for 50 years, could be shaken.
According to pharmaceutical industry insiders and disclosures made by Hanmi Pharmaceutical on the 5th, about 23 key executives left the company after Vice Chairman Bae Kyung-tae, a former Samsung Electronics legal office official, joined Hanmi Science's management in August 2022. Among them, 14 were found to be PhD-level talents.
Vice Chairman Bae was a figure recommended by Ladepangseu Partners, which provided management consulting to Chairwoman Song Young-sook, and he was appointed as the head of strategic planning (Vice Chairman) at Hanmi Pharmaceutical in August 2022. The strategic planning office was created for Vice Chairman Bae and was composed of legal and financial personnel without pharmaceutical experts.
At the end of that year, nine veteran pharmaceutical executives, including Kwon Se-chang, CEO of the new drug development division, Senior Executive Director Baek Seung-jae of the new drug clinical team, Director Lim Ho-taek of the formulation support group, and Director Jeong In-gi of the overseas business team, resigned from Hanmi Pharmaceutical.
At Hanmi Science, six people including Executive Director Jeong Jeong-hee of the management headquarters, CFO Song Ki-ho, and Director Kim Yoon-ho of patent strategy resigned, resulting in a total of 15 people trusted by the late Chairman Lim Sung-gi leaving the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group.
The talent outflow continued the following year as well. At Hanmi Pharmaceutical, six people including CEO Woo Jong-su of the management division, Senior Executive Director Kim Yong-il of the formulation research team, and Executive Director Kwon Kyu-chan of the global business headquarters left, while at Hanmi Science and JVM, CEOs Park Jun-seok and Lee Yong-hee respectively lost their positions.
It is known that 20 talents left during Vice Chairman Bae’s tenure. Although the position of Vice Chairman was taken over by Lim Ju-hyun, the eldest daughter of the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group and current head of strategic planning at Hanmi Science, three more executives left the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group thereafter.
It is reported that Lim Jong-yoon, President of Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Future Strategy, was completely excluded from decision-making regarding various personnel and management matters at the time. After Ladepangseu established the strategic planning office at the holding company Hanmi Science, Chairwoman Song, President Lim Ju-hyun, and Vice Chairman Bae Kyung-tae allegedly took full control and made major decisions behind closed doors. The recent stock swap between OCI and Hanmi Science is also said to have been conducted in this manner, according to President Lim Jong-yoon’s side. President Lim’s term expires next month.
To prevent the outflow of core talents, President Lim Jong-yoon recruited Kwon Kyu-chan, then Executive Director of Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Global Business Headquarters, as CEO of Dx&Vx and placed excellent personnel in COREE Group and Dx&Vx.
COREE Group is a biohealthcare company established by President Lim in Hong Kong in 2009, and Dx&Vx is a Hanmi Pharmaceutical affiliate specializing in diagnostics and vaccine development, with President Lim as the largest shareholder.
President Lim Jong-yoon of Hanmi Pharmaceutical has received formal management training from the previous chairman for about 20 years. From 2004 to 2010, he managed Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical, laying the foundation for its performance, which now accounts for 28% of Korea’s sales with annual revenue of 390 billion KRW. Notably, under President Lim’s management, about 20 products were developed clinically and registered, accounting for over 90% of current Beijing Hanmi’s sales.
While President Lim was leading Beijing Hanmi, the late Chairman Lim Sung-gi reportedly visited Beijing once every quarter and held overnight meetings with President Lim to discuss the future of Beijing Hanmi and Hanmi Pharmaceutical.
It is said that the establishment of COREE Group by President Lim in 2009 was in line with the late chairman’s intention that "Hanmi Pharmaceutical focuses on chemicals, while COREE Group dedicates itself to diagnostics and new drug research as the next-generation bio research, nurturing COREE Group as the next-generation growth engine supporting 'the second Hanmi'."
Since then, President Lim has led Hanmi Science for a total of 12 years, including six years as co-CEO with the late chairman, four years as sole CEO, and two years as co-CEO with Chairwoman Song.
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