[비즈한국] Jin Yang-gon, Chairman of the Board at HLB028300, has presented a bold blueprint for leaping into a global healthcare leader, combining Samsung Electronics005930’s semiconductor 'parallel development' approach with Deng Xiaoping's 'point, line, and plane' strategy.
During his opening remarks at the 1st 2026 HLB Group IR Day held at the Korea Exchange in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd, Chairman Jin stated, "To become a global healthcare company, I realized we shouldn't be obsessed with a single pipeline but rather find a way to develop multiple pipelines in parallel."
He found the basis for this strategy in his experience with the failure of his Phase 3 gastric cancer clinical trial in 2019, and the solution in Samsung Electronics' semiconductor development success. Chairman Jin explained, "Experts once evaluated Samsung Electronics as being 15 years behind Motorola and Nokia as a latecomer in semiconductor development. However, rather than developing 64MB, 128MB, and 256MB DRAM sequentially, Samsung challenged itself to develop all three simultaneously, and ultimately succeeded."
Until now, HLB's corporate value has been significantly shaken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) application and subsequent Complete Response Letters (CRL) regarding its main pipelines, the liver cancer drug Rivoceranib and the immune checkpoint inhibitor Camrelizumab. This move is interpreted as a commitment to prove the company's sustainability by consistently developing new pipelines instead of relying on just one.
In this process, Chairman Jin emphasized the 'sweet potato (rhizome)' organizational theory. He stressed, "To survive, we must break away from a tree-like structure where the whole entity dies if the center stem is cut, and instead build an organization like a sweet potato, where each root bears fruit even if the middle is severed." He added that even as they expand affiliates through M&A, they have completely blocked the risk of a single pipeline failure spreading into a group-wide crisis by eliminating cross-debt guarantees or payment guarantees between companies.
Although the combination therapy of Rivoceranib and Camrelizumab previously received two CRLs from the FDA and failed to gain approval, the company has supplemented its application and is expected to have a decision by late July.
Chairman Jin identified drastic time reduction as the secret to reaching global Phase 3 clinical trials for the liver cancer drug. By persistently persuading their partner, China's Hengrui Medicine, they were able to skip Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for the liver cancer indication—which showed excellent data—and head directly into global Phase 3, bypassing a decade of drug development time. "There are currently 9 hidden assets in China that have already been commercialized or have completed Phase 3 trials and are immediately available for technology export, awaiting full-scale valuation," Chairman Jin said, expressing confidence in his pipeline's potential.
HLB has currently also filed for market approval with the FDA for the biliary tract cancer second-line treatment 'Lirafugratinib'. The decision on its approval is expected on September 27. Additionally, affiliate HLB Therapeutics115450 is scheduled to announce the top-line results of its global Phase 3 clinical trial for the neurotrophic keratitis treatment 'RGN-259' in June, and HLB's U.S. drug development subsidiary, Verismo Therapeutics, is currently conducting Phase 1 clinical trials for next-generation CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapies.
Borrowing from Chairman Deng Xiaoping's 'point, line, and plane' strategy, Chairman Jin said that they are expanding their bio-business model by dividing it into three areas: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. By making the U.S. the main hub for their bio-business and actively utilizing M&A strategies to absorb pipelines, technology, and development personnel, they have been working to connect these hubs.
He said, "We have acquired HLB Peptide (peptide technology), HLB Panagene (molecular diagnostics), HLB Genex (enzyme technology), and HLB Biostep (CRO know-how). Furthermore, we have secured RNA vaccine platforms, CAR-T ophthalmic disease treatments, and AOC long-acting injections, creating a diverse new drug pipeline," adding, "Our research staff numbers 120, holding master's or doctoral degrees." He emphasized, "By 2030, we will build a complete ecosystem (plane) as a global bio-healthcare group."
On this day, Chairman Jin also offered an analysis to dismiss concerns the capital market may have regarding the HLB Group. He argued that the group is facing the 'paradox of business hubs,' as the main operations are in the U.S. making it difficult for domestic investors to verify them firsthand, and the 'paradox of the commercialization stage,' where early-stage companies are often highly valued while the risks of companies on the threshold of commercialization are highlighted.
Chairman Jin added, "This year will be the year HLB is truly evaluated. What was once considered an impossible area and a barrier is now becoming a gateway to leaping into a global pharmaceutical and healthcare company, and I will answer with results."