Genexine Shifts to Professional Management System... Chairman Sung Young-chul "Steps Down from Management to Focus on Vaccine Development"

Chairman Sung Focuses on Developing Core Technologies for COVID-19 Vaccines and Gene-Based Preventive Vaccines as Chief Technology Officer

Sung Young-chul, Chairman of Genexine

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Sung Young-chul, chairman of Genexine, is stepping down from the front lines of management to focus on the development of the COVID-19 vaccine 'GX-19N.' Chairman Sung will relinquish his position as CEO and also resign from the board of directors, but plans to remain with the company as the Chief Technology Officer to concentrate on developing the COVID-19 vaccine and foundational technology for genetic preventive vaccines.

Genexine announced on the 14th that it plans to appoint a professional manager to lead the company as Chairman Sung's successor, effective September 1. The current management structure will be maintained until August to establish a next-generation professional management system.

Genexine is currently conducting a total of 24 clinical trials in partnership with collaborators, two of which are in the global Phase 3 stage. By the end of last year, the company surpassed total assets of 500 billion KRW, emerging as a mid-sized enterprise, and its liquid investment assets also exceeded 900 billion KRW, accelerating its growth. A Genexine official stated, "For the company to grow to the next level, more global Connect & Development (C&D) projects need to be carried out. To this end, we plan to establish a professional management system, entrusting management to professional managers while Chairman Sung focuses on his expertise in science and technology development."

Chairman Sung explained the reason for stepping down from management, saying, "Returning to the original intention behind the name Genexine, which combines the meanings of Gene and Vaccine, I will step down from the front lines of management to focus on developing the COVID-19 preventive vaccine and securing foundational technology for genetic vaccines. This is not only essential for Genexine but also a necessary and most valuable task for society and the nation at this time."

Going forward, Chairman Sung plans to lead the successful commercialization of existing development pipelines and the development of new pipelines that will serve as future growth engines. Currently, Genexine is conducting global Phase 3 clinical trials for GX-H9, a long-acting growth hormone, and GX-E4, a long-acting erythropoietin (EPO). The company is also accelerating the development of key pipelines such as GX-188E, a cervical cancer treatment, and GX-I7, an immuno-oncology agent. Recently, Genexine expanded its pipeline by adopting ToolGen's CRISPR gene-editing technology to develop new cell and gene therapy drugs for treating intractable diseases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.