Moderna Korea speeds up group organization

Completed hiring Medical·PV·RA executives… who will be appointed as GM remains unknown amid flying rumors

Will focus on supply and quality management of its drugs…industry predicts that the company will start its activities in line with Samsung Biologics' production of Moderna vaccines.

Moderna Korea, which had shown little activity for almost 6 months after establishing its Korean subsidiary, is busy recruiting members in secrecy.

 

With the active hiring and imminent production of Moderna vaccines, officials predict that the company will be starting its official activity soon.

 

According to industry sources on the 19th, Moderna Korea has completed hiring executives for some of its departments including those for Medical, Pharmacovigilance, and Regulatory Affairs.

 

For the PV Head, an official with global CRO experience has moved to Moderna Korea in July, and a former BMS official has been serving as the Quality Head since last August.

 

The company has been speeding up its organizational process, recruiting executives and employees for various departments including the Supply Chain, Customer Services and Logistics, and Commercial Legal.

 

The General Manager (GM) for the Korean subsidiary has also been appointed, however, who the GM is remains unknown.

 

Only rumors that the GM is a vaccine expert from a specific multinational pharmaceutical company are abound.

 

A representative of a multinational pharmaceutical company who wished to remain anonymous said, “Under the premise that the GM was already hired, it is possible that the new head may have been recruited from a different country since so little is still known.” Over 60 candidates had applied for the position, and although most were residing in Korea some have applied from other regions such as Hong Kong, etc.

 

Looking at Moderna Korea’s organization chart, the Korean subsidiary’s role is expected to be concentrated around the supply and quality control of its products.

 

An industry official said, “Looking at the areas in hiring, I believe the company’s work will focus on drug-related tasks such as the side effects of its vaccines rather than drug development.

 

However, as Moderna is one of the few companies that can implement mRNA products as a platform, what role the branch will play remains to be seen.” This adds strength to expectations that Moderna Korea will start its official activities in line with Samsung Biologics' consignment production of the Moderna vaccines.

 

According to the remarks made by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety Gang-lip Kim at the NA’s Health and Welfare Committee audit, Samsung Biologics is expected to receive GMP certification within this month.

 

Samsung Biologics has begun production of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in line with this.

 

After Moderna Korea finishes organizing its group, the company is expected to be in charge of the regulatory procedures necessary to supply the Moderna products produced by Samsung Biologics to Korea and the Asia Pacifica region.