Illumina, Allergan Aesthetics welcome new leadership in Korea

Illumina Korea announced the appointment of Robert McBride as General Manager on Thursday.

One day earlier, Allergan Aesthetics Korea, an aesthetics unit of AbbVie, also welcomed Park Young-shin as the new General Manager.

Illumina Korea said it newly created the General Manager position to facilitate the transition of the Korean subsidiary into a global organization to accelerate the uptake of genomic technology in healthcare.

In addition to his General Manager role in Korea, McBride is also leading the sales and specialist teams in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Prior to this, he led the sales and specialist teams in Asia Pacific and Japan. Cumulatively, he possesses over 30 years of experience in genomics and more than 25 years in the Korean market with a passion for genomics in non-invasive prenatal screening, infectious disease, rare genetic disease, and oncology, the company said.

Recently, the National Project of Bio Big Data in Korea has established a database of 10,000 Korean genomes, with the ultimate goal of establishing a national digital library on health and genome data by 2028.

McBride noted that only a fraction of the genomic potential in healthcare has been realized in Korea and “more is needed” to advance the country's medical technology and improve future public health.

He said he would ensure Korea also pursues global trends toward population-scale sequencing to promote diversity in global sequencing data.

“Currently, the demand for genome analysis solutions related to oncology in Korea is increasing,” McBride said. “Last year we launched NovaSeqX, which brings down the cost of sequencing and we will continue to work closely with our partners to accelerate the future of health care for Koreans."

Allergan Aesthetics Korea appoints Park as GM

Switching over to the world of aesthetics, Park Young-shin, former managing director of AbbVie's immunology division, is carded to replace the outgoing General Manager Kim Sook-hyun, who will now serve the Taiwan and Hong Kong market as general manager of the business division of Allergan Aesthetics.

Park is a sales and marketing expert who has been in the pharmaceutical industry for 25 years and has successfully led the domestic business of various global pharmaceutical brands. Since 2018, she has served as the general manager of AbbVie's immunology division and has successfully launched two new core biological products in Korea, expanded indications, and achieved active leadership along with the expansion of AbbVie's pipeline.

From 2014 to 2018, she served as the managing director of the pharmaceutical business unit of Allergan Korea, including ophthalmology and Botox treatments. Park also established sales marketing capabilities in various fields including GSK Respiratory and Cervical Cancer Vaccine Division, Abbott Korea’s Anesthetic Division, and Shering Korea’s Dermatology and Obstetrics and Gynaecology marketing.

"I feel a great responsibility to oversee Allergan Aesthetic's Korean business at an important time when interest in aesthetics is growing rapidly," Park said. "We will do our best to solidify and grow our role as a trusted brand in the Korean medical aesthetic field based on our diverse product portfolio, long experience, and know-how."