Lee Woo-hyun, CEO of OCI Holdings, the largest shareholder of Bukwang Pharmaceutical, spoke about the current status of the company’s new drug development and possible future cooperation with the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group at Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s shareholders meeting.

Bukwang Pharmaceutical held its 64th annual general meeting of shareholders at the company’s headquarters in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on Friday.

Lee took the podium and apologized for the company's poor business performance last year. Bukwang posted sales of 125.9 billion won ($94.02 million), an operating loss of 37.5 billion won, and a net loss of 34.4 billion won last year.

"The biopharmaceutical industry has been experiencing difficulties due to the global economy's slowdown and shrinking domestic investment. Bukwang Pharmaceutical recorded an operating loss for the first time since its listing in 2022, and we implemented a strong restructuring in the third and fourth quarters of last year to improve it," Lee said. "We sincerely apologize to our shareholders for this performance."

Lee expected to see improvement this year as the company prioritizes improving profitability.

“Our prescription drug sales, which are the foundation of our revenue, continue to grow around our strategic items," he said. “We expect to see the first sales of schizophrenia treatment Latuda (lurasidone hydrochloride) in the second half of this year."

CEO Lee also disclosed the status of new drug development, including JM-010, a candidate for treating Parkinson's disease dyskinesia being developed by its Danish R&D subsidiary, Kontera Pharma A/S.

"As the phase II clinical trial of JM-010 is nearing its end, we incurred more expenses last year. Patient recruitment is over, and the results will be announced in mid-year," Lee said. "We will make tangible results this year."

However, Lee saw the greater possibility of collaboration with partners, such as technology transfer or co-development, than completing JM-010’s clinical development. Phase 3 will require more time and money, he said, adding that the company would move in more beneficial ways.

Lee also hinted at the possibility of listing Contera Pharma on an overseas stock market.

"It was originally planned to be listed in Korea, but there was a question whether it was right for a company with only foreign employees to be listed domestically," Lee said. "Since it is a Danish company, we can list it on the Danish stock exchange or consider listing it in Hong Kong or Singapore. However, since we have received private equity investment under the condition of listing domestically, we need to repay 51.3 billion won. This can be done with our internal financial resources."

Lee cited improving profitability and securing financial strength as management goals for Bukwang Pharmaceutical this year.

"Although Bukwang Pharmaceutical has a good R&D portfolio, it was lacking in the sales side, so we hired CEO Woo Ki-seok, who has a reputation as a sales expert at the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group. We made an apologetic request to Hanmi Pharmaceutical, but the group’s chairman readily accepted it,” Lee explained the background of Woo’s recruitment.

Regarding the recent market attention on the integration between the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group and the OCI Holdings Group, Lee said, "Nothing has been finalized yet. We decided to invest in Hanmi Pharmaceutical because it is a company with strength in treating adult diseases that global people will face in the future, ranging from diabetes to obesity."

He continued, "We are cautious because the integration with the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group has not yet been finalized. However, if it occurs, it will make Bukwang Pharmaceutical a far better company.”

Lee also promised to implement shareholder-friendly policies.

"I think many people will be interested in the value-up. We will also have to think about dividend policy for shareholder value, and we will do our best to make up for the trust of shareholders by actively considering this aspect, such as the burning of treasury shares," he said.

However, after the shareholders' meeting, Bukwang added that dividends and treasury stock retirement were under consideration but not finalized.

Meanwhile, at the shareholders’ meeting, Online Pharm CEO Woo Ki-seok and Lee Je-young, executive director of OCI Holdings' Strategic Planning Office, were newly named to Bukwang Pharmaceutical's board of directors.