[E-Daily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] MEDIPOST CO., LTD.(078160)announced on the 2nd that it has appointed Min Ho-sung, former Vice President of SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS, as President and CEO.
Following relevant procedures, such as an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting and a board resolution, President Min will be officially appointed as CEO, and the company plans to establish a co-CEO system with current CEO Oh Won-il. President Min is also expected to serve as Chairman of the Board following his appointment as CEO.
President Min earned a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After working as a researcher at the global pharmaceutical company Amgen, he served as a senior researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and as Executive Vice President in charge of DS at Samsung Bioepis. He subsequently served as CEO of GenScript ProBio and as Vice President and Head of the CDMO Development Center at SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS.
Under MEDIPOST CO., LTD.’s co-CEO system, CEO Oh will be responsible for domestic operations, including Cartistem, the GMP Center, cord blood, health functional foods, and the SCT business division. President Min will oversee the Global Business Division, the U.S. and Japanese subsidiaries, and “OmniaBio,” the CDMO affiliate. He will also be responsible for overseas clinical trials, global business development (BD) in North America, Europe, and China, and commercialization strategies.
In particular, MEDIPOST CO., LTD. intends to accelerate the overseas expansion of “Cartistem,” a stem cell-based osteoarthritis treatment, by leveraging President Min’s experience in cell and gene therapy research and development (R&D) and the CDMO business.
MEDIPOST CO., LTD. has currently completed the Phase 3 clinical trial for Cartistem in Japan and is preparing to submit a Biologics License Application (BLA). According to the company, the Japanese Phase 3 trial met all primary and secondary endpoints.
In the United States, a Phase 3 clinical trial is currently underway. MEDIPOST CO., LTD. received approval for the Phase 3 trial under the “Single Study” approach—which reduces costs by approximately 20–30% and shortens the clinical trial period by 3–6 months compared to the original development plan—and has begun administering the treatment to patients. The total clinical trial period is expected to last approximately 42–45 months.
President Min will be responsible for establishing commercialization strategies following the launch of Cartistem in North America and Japan, while also expanding the company’s business reach to Europe, China, and other regions. The company also plans to pursue global business development in collaboration with Omnia Bio.
By recruiting President Min, who has accumulated experience with global pharmaceutical companies and in the CDMO sector, the company plans to strengthen its global business capabilities and enhance the global value of key pipeline products, such as Cartistem, based on its co-CEO system.
President Min stated, “We will achieve key milestones, such as the BLA filing in Japan and clinical trials in the U.S., without a hitch, and combine our global business development efforts with OmniaBio’s capabilities,” adding, “We will expand our commercialization reach beyond North America and Japan to include Europe and China.”
