First Media Interview After OCI Integration Announcement
Goal to Complete New Drug Development with 'Gilead' Model
"President Lim Jong-yoon's Personal Business Can Also Be Conducted Within the Company"
"The businesses promoted by President Lim Jong-yoon, such as digital healthcare, could have been done within the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group. It's regrettable whether it really had to be done externally."
On the 26th, Lim Joo-hyun, President of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, held a press conference at Hanmi Pharmaceutical headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, stating, "The phrase most often said by the late Chairman Lim Sung-ki was 'one well' (meaning focusing on one thing)." He added, "Hanmi Pharmaceutical has many commercialization items, and interest and resources should be poured into these, but doing external projects was premature," expressing that the direction of new drug development that Hanmi Pharmaceutical should pursue and President Lim Jong-yoon's management direction did not align.
This was the first time President Lim met the media directly since the integration announcement between Hanmi Pharmaceutical and OCI Group last month. He said, "If I were to go back, I would make the same choice," and "I wanted to personally say that I have thought about it for a long time," explaining that he came out for the interview after much deliberation.
Regarding the family conflicts that arose around the justification for the integration, President Lim said, "(Originally) the three siblings had a good relationship," and expressed understanding that "there may be different directions pursued out of care for Hanmi Pharmaceutical." About the 'closed-door integration' claims by his older brother Lim Jong-yoon and younger brother Lim Jong-hoon, he explained, "Whether board resolutions can be disclosed as related parties should be viewed objectively," and said prior disclosure was difficult.
President Lim expressed confidence that through the integration, Hanmi Pharmaceutical would secure the momentum to grow into a global big pharma like Gilead Sciences. Gilead, which started as a small venture, laid the foundation for next-generation growth by technology licensing the novel flu treatment Tamiflu in its early days, and subsequently succeeded in growing into a big pharma by consistently focusing on research and development (R&D). He said, "Gilead is like the final form of new drug development," and "Hanmi Pharmaceutical also values disease-centered development such as metabolic diseases and cancer, and since it has started development on various modalities (therapeutic approaches), it will grow by creating new drugs that meet unmet needs."
He also expressed the will to directly complete new drug development using the resources secured through the integration. Although many new drug candidates were exported to global big pharma, most were eventually returned, and he does not want to experience that pain again. President Lim said, "Regardless of efficacy, it was very regrettable that they were returned or discontinued due to their strategies," and "We will be given the opportunity to conduct clinical phase 3 trials ourselves and complete new drug development." Hanmi Pharmaceutical is currently conducting phase 3 clinical trials domestically for Epenaglenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) mechanism drug for obesity treatment.
Regarding the reason for choosing OCI as a partner, he emphasized, "When I met Chairman Lee Woo-hyun of OCI Holdings directly, I felt he had a great interest in the pharmaceutical and bio industries," and "OCI is the best partner to maintain and reorganize Hanmi Pharmaceutical as it is." It is known that Hanmi Pharmaceutical had also considered Samsung Biologics, Hyosung, Solbrain, and others as integration candidates besides OCI. President Lim said, "This is an integration where Hanmi Pharmaceutical is not unilaterally absorbed but can participate in management," and "it would have been difficult with other companies." Regarding the inheritance tax issue, which is cited as a fundamental cause of the integration, he emphasized, "We secured resources through this deal," and "There will be no more inheritance tax issues."
The integration aims to be completed within the first half of this year. He expressed expectations for collaboration with Bukwang Pharmaceutical, a pharmaceutical company acquired by OCI, noting that their disease groups differ. President Lim said, "Bukwang Pharmaceutical focuses on neurological diseases, while we focus on metabolic diseases, so the fields do not overlap," and since Bukwang Pharmaceutical also acquired Denmark's Contera Pharma, he expects synergies in Europe as well.
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