SKorean entrepreneur Jeongjin Seo knew little about science or medicine before founding his biopharmaceutical company in 2003. He studied industrial engineering but lost his job at a car manufacturer during the Asian financial crisis. Looking for his new business opportunity, Jeongjin heard a leading scientist speak about the future of medicine and decided to start his own biopharmaceutical company with his colleagues. Today, Celltrion is a multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company developing breakthrough medicines to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases, and COVID-19.
Initially, Celltrion manufactured pharmaceuticals for other companies, but JungJin was eager to expand. He highlighted the potential for biosimilars, which are biological medicines that are very similar to already approved biological medicines used to treat diseases such as cancer. Jonjin borrowed money to travel and interview scientists around the world to research this concept. He then led a team in developing biosimilars of proprietary monoclonal antibody therapeutics that mimic the natural antibodies the body produces to fight infections.
Celltrion confounded its competitors by launching Remsima, the world's first biosimilar monoclonal antibody drug for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and arthritis. Remsima's success was quickly followed by the launch of breast cancer and lymphoma treatments in South Korea, Europe, and the United States. JungJin believes Celltrion's medicines will provide an affordable alternative to more patients around the world.