The suspicion that Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won lobbied for the approval of a COVID-19 treatment clinical trial has sparked a strong backlash from investors who suffered losses after investing in the related company back in 2021 upon hearing the news of the clinical trial's approval.

This is because despite the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's early approval, the actual clinical trial was eventually suspended after failing to meet the recruitment requirements for participating patients.

According to minority shareholders belonging to a Genencell investment victim support group, Genencell received approval for a domestic phase 2 clinical trial from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in October 2021 and registered its first clinical patient in May of the following year, but suddenly suspended the clinical trial around May 2023.

It was reported that this occurred because the company failed to meet the minimum criteria for clinical patients required for the trial.

The clinical trial was never resumed, and retail investors who had invested in anticipation of the development of a COVID-19 treatment suffered massive losses.

On the other hand, Professor Kang, the founder of Genencell, sold 660,000 shares of unlisted stock he held to a pharmaceutical company for 6.3 billion won just one week before the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the phase 2 clinical trial.

The transaction took place immediately after Professor Kang requested clinical approval to nominee Kim through an individual named Yang, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety made a request for supplementation of the clinical application.

In 2024, the Seoul Western District Court sentenced Professor Kang to three years in prison suspended for five years, stating that he had fabricated data as if animal testing had been conducted to secure approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and attempted to acquire financial gains based on it.

Investment victims have repeatedly submitted petitions through e-People and other channels, saying, "We are suffering in agony with our families falling apart" and "Our retirement has become difficult," but the recovery of their damages remains a distant prospect.

They are reportedly expressing frustration by asking, "Shouldn't they have actively recruited participants if there were few clinical applicants?" and are also pushing for a joint statement.

Previously, it was revealed that nominee Kim sent a text message to then-Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Chief Kim Gang-lip, stating, "Please ask for it to be processed quickly," at the request of a broker named Yang regarding the approval of Genencell's COVID-19 new drug clinical trial.

Genencell received clinical approval after nominee Kim sent the message.

Nominee Kim's side explained, "It was a simple transmission of a public interest grievance petition, not a request for treatment authorization."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Lee Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News