Professor on Probation for Lobbying MFDS to Approve COVID-19 Treatment

by Lee Seohee

Published 19 Dec.2024 14:21(KST)

Charges of Breach of Trust and Obstruction of Official Duties by Deception

A professor who was indicted for lobbying the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) through a broker to obtain approval for a COVID-19 treatment drug was sentenced to probation in the first trial.

Yonhap News

On the 19th, the Criminal Division 12 of the Seoul Western District Court (Presiding Judge Kwon Seong-su) announced that it sentenced Kang Mo (51), a professor at Kyung Hee University accused of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and obstruction of official duties by deception, to three years in prison with a five-year probation.

Kang, who led the development of a COVID-19 treatment drug at pharmaceutical company G, was prosecuted for allegedly giving bribes worth about 600 million KRW to Yang Mo (45), CEO of a household goods company, in the second half of 2021, when COVID-19 was at its peak, to help obtain approval for clinical trials of the treatment. Kang is also accused of manipulating animal testing data during the clinical trial process and attempting to receive government subsidies worth tens of billions of KRW.

Earlier, the prosecution secured a recorded conversation interpreted as showing that Yang requested approval from the then MFDS commissioner through Democratic Party lawmaker A, despite the clinical trial approval not having been granted. G received approval from the MFDS in October 2021 for domestic phase 2 and 3 clinical trial plans.

The court stated the sentencing rationale, saying, "As a university professor, when applying for clinical trials involving humans, it is necessary to comply with research ethics, carefully review to protect the safety of clinical trial subjects, and provide accurate data. However, it appears the defendant submitted false data and sought financial gain solely to expedite clinical trial approval." The court added, "However, we took into account that people who conducted research with the defendant petitioned for leniency."