Law firms hire drug industry personnel to expand clients

Personnel from MOHW, MFDS and HIRA join major law firms

Market access specialists like Byun Young-sik and Jung Hye Yeon still draw attention

Former Director Lee Dong Uk (left) and Former Director Yoo Hee-sang

Law firms in South Korea are busy scouting pharmaceutical industry specialists to attract pharmaceutical company clients.

 

The related industry sources reported law firms like Kim & Chang, Lee & Ko, Yulchon and Shin & Kim have recruited external experts for their healthcare teams for the last month.

 

Shin & Kim has welcomed a former director in Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and a former Deputy Minister of Health in Uzbekistan, Lee Dong Uk as a senior adviser.

 

Joining the healthcare team in the firm, Senior Adviser Lee has served in MOHW for three decades as a director of Health Insurance Policy Bureau and a director of Healthcare Policy Bureau and led the National Health Insurance (NHI) and healthcare policies.

 

In particular, he has been revered as the best specialist in NHI reimbursement policy like NHI drug pricing decision and adjustment and drug listing for reimbursement.

 

Lee & Ko appointed Yoo Hee-sang, a former director of Medical Device Management Division at Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), as a senior adviser.

 

He used to be in charge of medical device management policy for 16 years in MFDS.

 

His milestones were consigning public agency to review and approve low-risk medical device, compiling a safety management guideline for medical purpose mobile app and exempting business registration, introducing bill to set a separate Medical Devices Act, and exempting heart rate measuring device for sports and leisure activity.

 

Although Lee & Ko shook hands with former Director Yoo, the firm bided farewell to Senior Consultant Byun Young-sik (former Senior Director at AstraZeneca) newly joining Kim & Chang.

 

He began his career in the pharmaceutical industry from Janssen in 1994 and experienced more drug pricing and market access tasks for a decade in AstraZeneca.

 

He was leading the reimbursement listing process for the third generation lung cancer targeted therapy ‘Tagrisso,’ and the first ever pharmacoeconomic evaluation-exempted drug and medullary thyroid cancer treatment, ‘Caprelsa.’ Based on his rich career, Lee & Ko scouted him in 2018.

 

But with his new contract with Kim & Chang, Senior Consultant Byun would rub shoulders with Senior Advisor Lee Byeongil (former director of Pharmaceutical Management Department at Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service) and Senior Consultant Koh Su-kyung (former senior director at Norvatis).

 

In the first half of the year, Yulchon recruited Associate Huh Na Eun (former Legal Counsel of Regulatory Reform and Legislation Division at MOHW), and the company welcomed Consultant Jung Hye Yeon (former Senior Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Patent Attorney Kim Tae Kyung (former director of New Drug Listing Division at HIRA).

 

They are a group of seasoned experts in drug pricing and NHI reimbursement listing.

 

An associate from a multinational company commented, “The law firms are constantly contacting personnel who have experience in healthcare business from both government and the industry.

 

As the firms are committed to expand business in new drug reimbursement consulting, more personnel from pharmaceutical companies would move to those firms in the future.”