Seo Jung-jin steps down as Celltrion chairman, launches medical startup

By Kim Hyun-bin

Seo Jung-jin officially stepped down from his position as the honorary chairman of Celltrion Group during the company's shareholders meeting, Friday.

He has played a crucial role in turning Celltrion into a global biopharmaceutical company and now seeks to use that expertise to establish a remote medical startup company.

In the past, Seo has shown keen interest in establishing a startup business. Last October, he announced plans to start a remote medical business with a vision of allowing patients to receive quality medical services regardless of their location.

He emphasized that pharmaceutical companies need to contribute to enhancing public health and many industry watchers believe the remote medical startup is in line with those ideals.

Seo has often mentioned the importance of enhancing the country's medical welfare conditions and has become a major force behind Celltrion becoming one of the first biopharmaceutical companies in the country to start developing COVID-19 treatments.

“The biggest reason we are supplying COVID-19 medicine at production cost is to protect our nation's health,” Seo said during the company's shareholders meeting.

Seo believed that a failure to handle the pandemic could have led to the collapse of Korea's middle class. “Social order cannot be maintained with only a small percentage of wealthy and mostly lower class citizens,” he added.

The former chairman is also likely to continue investing in the country's biopharmaceutical industry to strengthen the nation's competitiveness. He recently vowed to invest 2 trillion won to foster new talents in the sector.

“Companies strive to maximize their profitability, but they need to take responsibility for the nation's future as well,” Seo said.