Boryung Pharmaceutical Co. Chairper-son Kim Eun-sun is expected to carry out more companywide and outside activities this year than ever before, bringing her to the forefront of the industry.

Chairperson Kim was reappointed vice chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KPMA) last December after she was elected as the second chairperson of the Asia-Pacific Self-Medication Industry (APSMI) last October. Kim previously served as the vice chairperson of the APSMI. It is rare for a Korean woman entrepreneur to head an Asian-Pacific pharmaceutical organization under the umbrella of the World Self-medication Industry (WSMI). Her father and Boryung Group founder Kim Seung-ho held the helm at the WSMI from October 1992 to October 1993. The eldest Kim has been recognized for his contribution to Seoul’ s hosting of the 10th WSMI Congress last year. 

The APSMI was established on Nov. 5, 2010 in Taipei with the cooperation of association members, the China Nonprescription Medicines Association (CNMA), the Japan Self-Medication Industry (JPMA), the KPMA, the Taiwan Pharmaceutical Marketing & Management Association (TPMMA), the Thai Self-Medication Industry Association (TSMIA), and nine corporate members (Daiichi-Sankyo Healthcare, Kowa, Novartis Consumer Health, Sato Pharmaceutical, SS Pharmaceutical, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Taisho Pharmaceutical, Rohto Pharmaceut-ical, and Zeria Pharmaceutical). The APSMI is a non-governmental, voluntary, non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of responsible self-medication in the Asia-Pacific region through the contribution of OTC medicines to the public health and the sharing of information.

In a related development,  Kim was presented with a certificate of approval to be an honorary consul for the Embassy of Ecuador in Korea from the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Feb. 20. The senior Kim has been serving as the honorary consul-general for the Embassy of Tuvalu in Korea since 1994.

The developments surrounding Boryung Pharmaceutical Chairwoman Kim strikes a sharp contrast from her low-profile attitude since taking the helm at the nation’ s major pharmaceutical company five years ago. Chairwoman Kim, the eldest daughter of Boryung Group Chmn. and founder Kim Seung-ho, has been groomed as heir-apparent of the group. 

Companywide, Chairwoman Kim is also expected to have greater say in the operation of the pharmaceutical company under a two-top manager system of owner and professional manager. She has teamed up with President Choi Tae-hong, who replaced his predecessor Kim Kwang-ho, and had been involved in management even before her rise to the chairmanship. 

Chairperson Kim joined Boryung Pharmaceutical in 1986 and gathered wide experience in all departments over the years and assumed the position of group vice chairman in 2001. 

REINFORCING OVERSEAS PRESENCE 

Boryung Pharmaceutical has a 2013 target for Kanarb￡o, a homegrown antihypertensive, of 50 billion won in sales, including revenues earned overseas, company officials said. The company, which has signed exclusive sales deals with 13 Central and South American countries as well as Russia, is stepping on the gas to expand its overseas business environs by focusing on making inroads into the Chinese market this year, they said. 

Kanarb￡o (Fimasartan), has become the eighth new drug from Korea and the nation’ s first new anti-hypertension drug. 

Kanarb￡o, which is in the class of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), the most used type among all anti-hypertension drugs, was approved on Sept. 9, 2010, by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) for its safety and its significant effect on decreasing blood pressure for those patients with hypertension. Kanarb￡o not only embraces the merits of the existing ABR-class drugs, but provides solutions to angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-class drugs’  side effects such as hacking cough and edemas, and it also employs a technology to overcome their drawing of lower efficacy.

Boryung won the coveted Presidential Award of the 2011 Korea Technology Grand Prix for developing Kanarb￡o, which has also been put on the list of the top 10 new technology picks. Boryung became the first company to win the Presidential Award from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector since the award’ s establishment.