Yuhan Corp. will hold its annual shareholders' meeting next month and decide whether to reappoint Cho Wook-je as its president and CEO. Industry officials watch with interest whether Cho will serve another term.

The company issued a public notice last Tuesday, announcing that it would hold its annual general shareholders meeting on March 15 at its headquarters office. At the meeting, shareholders will vote on the appointment of Cho as its president and CEO.

Cho, appointed president and CEO of Yuhan in March 2021, will complete his three-year term in March. If the proposal is approved at the meeting, Cho will begin his second term.

Cho joined Yuhan in 1987 and has held positions, including director of the hospital branch, head of ETC sales, executive vice president of marketing, head of pharmaceutical business, head of business management, and executive vice president of business.

Industry insiders are also interested in how Yuhan will move if Cho is reappointed.

Last year, the company ranked No. 1 in sales among Korean pharmaceutical companies. According to the public disclosure, the company's provisional sales on a consolidated basis totaled 1.86 trillion won ($1.40 billion) last year. The company also registered an operating income of 56.8 billion won and a net profit of 142.5 billion won. These figures marked increases of 4.7 percent, 57.6 percent, and 57.4 percent year-on-year.

Separate operating results, which do not include those of subsidiaries, were 1.81 trillion won in sales, 57.2 billion won in operating income, and 95.4 billion won in net income.

The company attributed the increase to sales growth at its subsidiary companies and higher license revenue. Last year, the company's license revenue totaled 11.2 billion won on a standalone basis, with 7.2 billion won in license revenue in the first quarter alone.

By product, the diabetes drug Trajenta (linagliptin), a DPP-4 inhibitor jointly marketed with Boehringer Ingelheim, posted sales of 98.4 billion won, down 17.4 percent year-on-year. In contrast, its dyslipidemia drug Rosuvamibe (rosuvastatin calcium/ezetimibe) posted sales of 84.9 billion won, up 53.7 percent year-on-year.

Besides, Jardiance (empagliflozin-metformin hydrochloride), a diabetes treatment co-marketed with Boehringer Ingelheim, sold 84.5 billion won, Twynsta (telmisartan-amlodipine), a hypertension treatment co-marketed with Boehringer Ingelheim, sold 81.6 billion won, and Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), a hepatitis B treatment co-marketed with Gilead, sold 75.3 billion won.

Yuhan Corp. aims to hit the 2 trillion won sales target this year but has some challenges. For instance, the company's operating margin was 3.05 percent on a consolidated basis last year, lower than other major pharmaceutical companies, such as Hanmi Pharmaceutical (14.80 percent), Chong Kun Dang Dang (14.77 percent), and Daewoong Pharmaceutical (8.91 percent).

The company expects strong sales this year riding on the expanded reimbursement for its non-small cell lung cancer drug Leclaza (lazertinib) for the domestic first-line treatment, and the fact that its global partner Johnson & Johnson has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for approval of Leclaza in combination with Rybrevant (amivantamab), Yuhan officials said.

Meanwhile, Yuhan shareholders will also vote on the appointment of Kim Yeol-hong, head of R&D, as a new inside director and the reelection of Lee Jung-hee, former CEO and president, as a non-executive director at their annual general meeting in March.