Genencel Claims "No Issues" With New Drug Approval... But Indictment and Ruling Tell a Different Story

[Anchor]

Now let's examine the claims made by Genencel CEO Kang one by one. Kang has claimed that he never made lobbying requests to nominee Kim Seung-won and that there were no issues in the approval process for the COVID-19 treatment clinical trials. However, the prosecution's indictment, the court's ruling, and transcripts from the time contain entirely contradictory accounts.

Reporting by Kim Deok-hyeon.

[Reporter]

In December 2024, the first-instance court found Genencel CEO Kang guilty of some charges, sentencing him to three years in prison suspended for five years.

The court determined that Kang used fraudulent means—specifically, fabricated data—to obstruct official procedures leading up to the approval of the new drug's clinical trial plan.

When securing the relevant patent, he fabricated false documents showing hamster experiments had been conducted even though no such experiments took place. Furthermore, during the approval process, the court found that he submitted false reports omitting suspected adverse reaction cases, such as the deaths of hamsters administered the treatment substance.

While Kang has claimed there were no problems in the clinical trial-related experiments and approval application process, the first-instance court's judgment was different.

The remark conveyed by nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won to the then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety, expressing concern over "the leakage of national wealth," also does not align with the first-instance court's view that Genencel's treatment development-related patents and clinical trials were based on false data.

Kang claims he has never met nominee Kim and that it was a normal petition procedure.

[CEO Kang / Genencel: I have no connection whatsoever with lawmaker Kim Seung-won. Lobbying requests? I hate things like that and have never done them. I have never met him nor have I ever spoken to him directly on the phone.]

However, the prosecution's indictment states that Kang repeatedly proposed to businessman Yang that if Yang helped secure approval for the clinical trial plan through political figures, he would provide financial assistance.

[Businessman Yang - Acquaintance Phone Call (November 26, 2021): Professor (Kang) sent KakaoTalk messages saying, "Please hurry up the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety matter a bit," and "Please push it again," and those messages are on KakaoTalk....]

The prosecution also uncovered circumstances showing that following the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's approval, Kang attempted to wire 5 million won to nominee Kim's political donation account.

In addition, regarding the fact that the day after signing a contract for Kosdaq-listed company Sejong Medical to acquire 6.3 billion won worth of Kang's Genencel shares, Kang sent 100 million won to Yang and contacted him saying, "The stock price will go up, so buy it," the first-instance court found him guilty of utilizing undisclosed information.

(Camera Reporter: Lee Chan-su | Video Editor: So Ji-hye | Designer: Seo Seung-hyeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.