Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion, "Retirement at the End of This Year as Scheduled"
Leading COVID-19 Antibody Therapeutics Development Until Year-End... "Juniors Will Take Over Starting Next Year"
[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Seo Jung-jin, chairman of Celltrion Group, announced on the 20th that commercial production of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) antibody treatment will begin in September.
At an online press conference that day, Chairman Seo said, "Our goal is to focus on clinical trials and commercialize in the shortest time possible."
Celltrion received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for phase 1 clinical trials of the antibody treatment on the 17th. The plan is to complete phase 1 within the third quarter of this year, then proceed through phase 2 (200-300 participants) and phase 3 (2000-3000 participants), aiming for commercialization in the first half of next year.
Chairman Seo stated, "The goal is to complete all clinical trials and approvals by the first half of next year," but added, "If safety and efficacy are confirmed in the results up to phase 2, we will also apply for emergency use authorization." He continued, "If emergency use authorization or approval is granted by the first half of next year, we will start commercial production at the Songdo plant from September this year to enable rapid administration."
Currently, 51 pharmaceutical companies worldwide are developing antibody treatments. Chairman Seo said, "Antibody treatments have low side effects, but the problem is their high price, so lowering the price is key to making them widely available," adding, "We will reduce development and manufacturing costs to supply more cheaply than any other company and will not seek profit through COVID-19 treatments."
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Meanwhile, Chairman Seo stated that there will be no change to his retirement plan at the end of this year. He said, "I will directly oversee the development of the antibody treatment until the end of this year, and after that, my juniors will take over." He added, "This is not a fragile company that develops well only when I am chairman and fails when I step down," and asked, "Please trust the capabilities of our company’s employees rather than my personal situation."
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