Many third-generation executives of family-run conglomerates are assuming key roles in their group’s biopharmaceutical affiliates.
SK biopharmaceuticals said Thursday it promoted Chey Yoon-jung, who had led the company’s strategic investment team, to head its business development headquarters. Chey is the eldest daughter of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. With this promotion, Chey Yoon-jung, who joined SK biopharmaceuticals in 2017, has become an executive six years after entering the company.
SK biopharmaceuticals has also reorganized its business development and strategic investment teams under the Business Development Headquarters.
The company said the reorganization and personnel reshuffle were aimed to "enhance efficiency, flexibility, and collaboration in R&D while maximizing synergies between business development and strategic investment."
On Wednesday, Lotte Holdings, the Lotte Group’s holding company, also announced the creation of the Future Growth Office dedicated to global and new businesses and appointed Shin Yoo-yeol, former managing director for basic materials at Lotte Chemical, as the new head of Future Growth Office.
Lotte said the new office will manage new businesses, such as bio and healthcare, to develop a the group’s second growth engine.
Shin is the eldest son of Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and was promoted to executive vice president in a regular reshuffle. Shin joined Lotte Holdings in Japan in 2020. In 2022, he became the executive vice president of Lotte Chemicals' Tokyo Office and the head of Lotte Strategic Investment (LSI) and Lotte Financial.
Under the latest reshuffle, Shin will also lead the Global Strategy Office at Lotte Biologics, the group’s contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).
“By directly participating in the management of the bio business, which is key to the Lotte Group's future growth, Shin will successfully lead the company's growth into a global CDMO,” the group said.
Aside from chaebol, OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun, the third-generation manager of the OCI Group, was appointed last month as the sole representative of Bukwang Pharmaceutical. OCI became Bukwang Pharm’s largest shareholder through a stock acquisition last year. Independent CEO Yoo Hee-won, who had led research and clinical trials, resigned.
OCI Group also appointed OCI Holdings CEO Seo Jin-seok as CEO of Bukwang Pharm. Seo, a management specialist, will assist Chairman Lee. OCI Group said that Seo will strive to secure mid- to long-term growth engines in addition to reorganizing the management team of Bukwang Pharmaceutical.
Industry insiders see the third-generation executives joining their groups’ biopharma units as management training. As the biopharma industry is expected to grow, they can gain hands-on experience in biopharma affiliates and achieve prominent results.
"Major chaebol groups have long identified bio as a ‘new tree’ business, which will bear fruits in five to 10 years. Sending owners’ children or relatives as heads of the groups’ biopharma subsidiaries shows that they are committed to this line of business," an industry executive said.
This is also good news for these companies. The biopharma industry, such as drug development, requires a lot of capital to be invested over a long period, and if the children of the chairman come, the business will gain momentum, and the investment can continue, the executive added.