CJ BioScience announced on the 8th that it has appointed Yoon Sang-bae, former CEO of Huons, as the new CEO. The company plans to formally appoint Yoon after an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and board of directors meeting. CEO Cheon Jong-sik will serve as a consultant for research and development.
The company explained that it appointed Yoon Sang-bae to actively pursue new drug development and secure future growth drivers. Yoon graduated from Chung-Ang University College of Pharmacy and its graduate school, and completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at KAIST. He served as CEO of Huons from 2022 until the end of last year after working at Samsung C&T (bio operations), GSK Korea, Dong-A ST, and Boryung. Since April of last year, he has been the CEO of the pharmaceutical division at Kips Biopharma, a company focused on anticancer drugs and oral drug delivery platforms.
CJ BioScience is a company focused on developing immune anticancer agents based on gut microbiome and emerged in April 2022 after acquiring C Lab, founded by Cheon Jong-sik, a professor at Seoul National University, and merging with the red bio (medical and pharmaceutical) sector of CJ CheilJedang. However, it has consistently faced losses. Last year, the consolidated operating loss was 35.6 billion won, with sales declining by 37.8% year-on-year to 3.5 billion won.
The company’s top priority is to resolve its losses. To achieve this, technology transfer is essential. CEO Cheon also noted, "Once technology exports are completed, the losses will be resolved." CJ BioScience is conducting multinational Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of its lead candidate, "CJRB-101." It is confirming efficacy in combination with Merck's (MSD) immune anticancer drug "Keytruda" for non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer, and skin cancer (melanoma).
Current CJ BioScience CEO Cheon Jong-sik will serve as a company advisor, continuing to assist with research and development, external networking, and more. Since the launch of CJ BioScience, CEO Cheon has not only developed the lead candidate "CJRB-101" but also acquired assets from UK microbiome company 4D Pharma, enhancing the artificial intelligence (AI) drug development platform.
A CJ BioScience official stated, "Yoon led double-digit revenue growth during his tenure as CEO of Huons and has been a key figure in enhancing the competitiveness of domestic pharmaceuticals in overseas markets," adding, "We expect that the synergy between Yoon and CEO Cheon will further strengthen the future competitiveness of microbiomes and create meaningful outcomes through technology transfer and more."