[2022 National Audit] 20 MFDS Employees Hold Pharmaceutical Company Stocks... KDCA Not Audited

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] It has been revealed that employees of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), who are responsible for the review of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, held stocks in pharmaceutical companies that posed potential conflicts of interest.

According to data submitted by the MFDS to Shin Hyun-young, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the MFDS identified 20 cases of stock ownership involving conflicts of interest among its executives and staff during a review conducted last year.

Among those identified, nine were public officials and eleven were contract workers. The public officials belonged to departments such as the Medical Device Safety Management Division, Pharmaceutical Policy Division, Medical Product Inspection Division, and Health Functional Food Policy Division, all of which handle tasks related to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and medical products. The stocks they held included shares in pharmaceutical companies such as Ilyang Pharmaceutical, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Celltrion, and Green Cross Holdings.

An employee A working in the Circulatory Nervous System Drugs Division of the MFDS Evaluation Institute held 222 shares of Ilyang Pharmaceutical, which produces circulatory system drugs. Employee B from the Cosmetics Policy Division held shares in Celltrion, which owns a cosmetics company as a subsidiary.

They mostly explained that they purchased these stocks before their appointment or before becoming subject to restrictions. However, criticism is likely unavoidable as they continued to hold these stocks even after their appointment or after becoming restricted persons.

The MFDS stated that it had destroyed all records of stock ownership related to conflicts of interest prior to last year to protect personal information, making it impossible to ascertain the previous status.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), which was promoted from a headquarters to an agency in 2020, has never conducted audits on employee stock ownership. Although the KDCA does not directly handle the review and management of pharmaceuticals, it oversees investigations, testing, and research on various diseases, indicating a potential relevance to its duties. Previously, during a national audit, concerns were raised about KDCA Commissioner Baek Kyung-ran holding biotech stocks, suggesting a high possibility of conflicts of interest with the agency’s work.

Assembly member Shin Hyun-young emphasized, "Holding stocks related to bio-health clearly reveals the moral hazard of MFDS public officials who perform pharmaceutical approval tasks," and added, "Institutional measures must be established to prevent conflicts of interest where private gains are made using internal information during times of infectious disease outbreaks that threaten health and life."

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