Dong-A ST held its 5th annual general shareholders’ meeting at 8:30AM on March 27 at the 7F auditorium of its Yongshin-dong headquarters in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul in the presence of shareholders and company executives.

During the meeting, a total of six items were submitted and passed for inclusion on the agenda including the 5th financial statements and consolidated financial statements, partial changes to the articles of incorporation, the appointment of directors, the appointment of members of the audit committee, the approval of remuneration for the directors and the audit remuneration limit.

In its 5th Annual Sales Report, Dong-A ST reported sales of 554.8 billion and an operation profit of 24.1 billion in 2017, and a cash dividend of 500 per ordinary share was decided. In addition, parts of the articles of incorporation ？ including a reduction in the number of directors, the introduction of an audit committee, the expansion of the committees within the board of directors, the separation of the CEO and the chairman of the board, the introduction of a branch dividend, etc. - were modified in order to improve corporate governance transparency and shareholder value.

Furthermore, Chairman Eom Dae-sig, a management specialist recruited from Korea Otsuka Pharmaceutical last January to revive the management, was newly appointed as the company’s executive director. To improve the independence of the board, the ratio of external directors was expanded to form a majority by appointing Ryu Jae-sang, the director of the College of Pharmacy at Ewha Womens University, and Choi Hee-ju, an advisor of attorneys at law firm Yulchon.

The audit committee, which has been newly introduced to enhance the transparency of corporate governance, is composed of external directors so as to secure independence. Three nonexecutive director, Woo Byung-chang, Kim Geun-soo and Choi Hee-ju, were appointed as auditors.

Vice Chairman Kang Soo-hyoung of Dong-A ST, who chaired the general shareholders’ meeting, said in his greetings, “Dong-A ST has continued to make investments and preparations despite the many difficulties we faced last year. Following these efforts, we exported the technology for the MerTK inhibitor for immunotherapeutic drugs at the end of 2016, and then exported our natural medicine for diabetic neuropathy to a US pharmaceutical company. We have been recognized overseas for our R&D competitiveness after concluding a joint research agreement with AstraZeneca, a major global pharmaceutical company.”

“This year, our R&D division will concentrate on the field of immunotherapy while focusing on dementia in the long term, while the open innovation will focus on securing new first-in-class pipelines,” he continued.

He went on to say, “The sales division will introduce new drugs that could turn out to be big hits, such as Jublia, Edarbi and Contrav, and which will ultimately lead to improved sales performance for Dong-A ST. In 2018 we will do our utmost to establish markets for these new products early on, and strive to improve our sales turnaround and profitability by expanding our product portfolio by introducing new drugs.”