Yuhan Names Choi Yeong-gi Deputy Director of Central Research Institute

2024.06.03. The Fair Economy — Yuhan recently announced that it has recruited Managing Director Choi Yeong-gi as deputy director of its Central Research Institute and head of its Synthetic Drug Division, effective the 1st of this month.

According to Yuhan, Choi earned a master's degree in pharmacy from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Oregon State University.

Over the course of his career, Choi served as a senior scientist in small-molecule drug discovery at Boehringer Ingelheim starting in 2005, then as a senior scientist in chemistry enablement at Forma Therapeutics, and later as executive director of discovery research at Alkermes, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Ireland.

With nearly two decades of experience at various multinational pharmaceutical companies, Choi's arrival is expected to inject new energy into Yuhan's R&D efforts.

Meanwhile, Yuhan, which is approaching its 100th anniversary in 2026, developed LECLAZA (ingredient name: Lazertinib), a non-small cell lung cancer treatment that became Korea's 31st locally developed new drug and is drawing expectations of U.S. FDA approval as a future global blockbuster. The company is also advancing more than 30 new drug pipelines, including a number of immuno-oncology treatments, as it positions itself as a leading global drug developer.