Jeil Pharmaceutical has appointed Han Sang-cheol, the grandson of the company’s late founder Han Won-seok, as its new co-CEO, transitioning to a dual leadership structure with current CEO Sung Suk-je.
Jeil Pharmaceutical has appointed founder’s grandson Han Sang-cheol as co-CEO alongside Sung Suk-je, reinforcing its leadership to drive innovation and long-term growth. (Credit: Jeil Pharmaceutical)
The company said that its board of directors approved Han’s appointment on Monday, aiming to bolster management expertise and strengthen corporate competitiveness through a shared leadership model.
Han Sang-cheol is also the eldest son of the current Chairman Han Seung-soo.
Han majored in industrial engineering at Yonsei University and earned an MBA from the University of Rochester in the U.S. He joined Jeil Pharmaceutical in 2006 as a department head and held key executive roles including Executive Director of Marketing and Executive Director of Strategic Planning.
He was promoted to Vice President in 2015 and became President in 2023. Since 2017, he has also served as CEO of Jeil Pharma Holdings, the group's holding company.
One of Han’s most notable achievements is the establishment of Jeil’s drug development subsidiary Onconic Therapeutics in 2020, which marked a significant shift for the company from product-based sales to innovation-driven R&D.
In 2024, just four years after its launch, Onconic secured approval for its reflux esophagitis treatment Jaqbo, Korea’s 37th locally developed novel drug. The company is also progressing with a phase 2 clinical trial for its next pipeline candidate, a dual-target anti-cancer therapy called Nesuparib.
“These ongoing achievements in R&D are accelerating Jeil Pharmaceutical’s transformation and strengthening the outlook for long-term innovation,” a Jeil Pharmaceutical official said. “With the dual CEO system, we expect to enhance expertise and reinforce responsible management.”