Seok Sang-je, CEO of Dios Pharma, who sparked controversy by appearing at a press conference held by Samchundang Pharmaceutical (000250.KS) on the 6th, has been identified as a figure who previously served as a contract advisor at Engchem Life Sciences (183490.KQ). Seok, an outsider with no affiliation to Samchundang Pharmaceutical, took part in the Q&A session and briefed reporters on the company's key pipeline patents, clinical trials, and business development (BD) status. Engchem, the company Seok previously worked with, was recently notified of an "audit opinion disclaimer" and now faces possible delisting.
According to reporting by the Seoul Economic Daily on the 7th, Seok served in a contract advisory capacity at Engchem. An industry source in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector said, "His business model is to connect domestic companies with other firms to sign favorable contracts and collect a certain fee in return," adding, "Seok appears to have formed ties with Samchundang around the time Jeon In-seok was appointed as CEO of Samchundang Pharmaceutical in March 2018."
The MRI contrast agents that Samchundang Pharmaceutical licensed in from Summit Biotech in July 2018, shortly after CEO Jeon took office, are connected to Engchem. According to business reports, Samchundang Pharmaceutical licensed two MRI contrast agent products (believed to be generics) from Summit — Gadovist (active ingredient: gadobutrol) and Dotarem (active ingredient: gadoterate meglumine) — and then signed a supply contract with U.S.-based Glenmark in 2019. This was an unusual move for Samchundang Pharmaceutical, which had until then focused primarily on ophthalmic generics.
While the contract appears unrelated to Engchem at first glance, Engchem was at the time pursuing sales contracts for the same contrast agent products with global pharmaceutical companies. In its 2018 business report, Engchem stated, "As the market for gadoterate and gadobutrol products is expanding rapidly, our company, having completed commercialization of these products, is preparing sales through cooperation with U.S. company G and more than 10 European contrast agent manufacturers." However, it was Samchundang Pharmaceutical — not Engchem — that signed the license-in contract and subsequently concluded the deal with Glenmark, the "U.S. company G."
Samchundang Pharmaceutical disclosed that Glenmark, with which it signed the contrast agent sales contract, was a U.S. company, but the U.S. Glenmark entity is in fact a U.S. subsidiary of an Indian company. At the time, Samchundang Pharmaceutical projected total revenue of 201 billion won from the contract, comprising 68.7 billion won in API supply sales and 132.3 billion won in profit-sharing revenue. However, the amount actually received as disclosed in current business reports is zero won.
