Hanmi Science is replacing CEO Park Jae-hyun of its subsidiary Hanmi Pharmaceutical and forming a new board of directors to stabilize management rights. Hwang Sang-yeon, head of the PE division at HB Investment, has been selected as the next CEO candidate for Hanmi Pharmaceutical. If he is actually appointed, he will become the first external CEO in the history of Hanmi Pharmaceutical.
According to the pharmaceutical and bio industry on the 12th, Hanmi Science and Hanmi Pharmaceutical held board meetings sequentially at 2 PM and 4 PM to finalize the agenda for the appointment of directors and the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. All board meetings concluded around 5:30 PM, and it was reported that they decided to replace 4 out of the 5 directors whose terms are expiring and to reappoint 1.
The current board of directors of Hanmi Pharmaceutical consists of 10 members: 4 internal directors including Park Jae-hyun, Lim Jong-hoon, Park Myung-hee, and Choi In-young; 4 external directors including Yoon Do-heum, Kim Tae-yoon, Lee Young-gu, and Yoon Young-gak; and 2 other non-executive directors including Shin Dong-guk and Kim Jae-kyo. Among them, the terms of 5 members (Park Jae-hyun, Park Myung-hee, Yoon Young-gak, Yoon Do-heum, and Kim Tae-yoon) expire this month.
During the board meeting, Hanmi Science discussed the reappointment of Kim Tae-yoon as the audit committee member (external director) and the appointment of new directors including Hwang Sang-yeon, Kim Na-young, head of new product development at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, former lawmaker Chae Yi-bae, and Han Tae-jun, president of Ghent University Global Campus.
The much-anticipated reappointment of CEO Park is expected to end without success. His exclusion from the new director candidates has made his departure a reality. As the 4-member alliance (Song Young-sook, Lim Joo-hyun, Shin Dong-guk, and La Defangs), which is a key shareholder in defending Hanmi Group's management rights, has completed its behind-the-scenes coordination, it is analyzed that the new board appointment proposal is likely to pass without difficulty.
Hwang, who is mentioned as the new CEO of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, was born in 1970 and obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Seoul National University. He began his career at LG Chem's technology research institute. He is known to have experience as an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities and as the CEO of Chong Kun Dang Holdings, possessing insights that span the pharmaceutical industry and capital markets. He is evaluated as a suitable person to mediate conflicts between major shareholders and management.
The inclusion of Kim Na-young, head of the new product development division, in the new board of directors is also noteworthy. He had directly opposed the management's attempt to dismiss CEO Park at the end of 2024, advocating for a professional management system. This has led to analysis that the 4-member alliance focused more on stabilizing management than on factional conflicts.
Hanmi Science aims to eliminate the management uncertainties of Hanmi Pharmaceutical and lay the groundwork for organizational stability starting from this board meeting.
Meanwhile, in the past month, conflicts between Hanmi Pharmaceutical's major shareholders and management have surfaced. In February, CEO Park raised issues claiming that major shareholder Shin Dong-guk (Chairman of Hanyang Precision) exerted pressure during the disciplinary process of an executive involved in sexual harassment within the company. Employees of Hanmi Pharmaceutical held protests in response, and Chairman Shin denied any involvement. On the 5th, Song Young-sook, chairman of Hanmi Group, also issued a statement to apologize for the major shareholder's sexual misconduct controversy.
