KoBioLabs
A Global Bio Company that Leads the Bio Industry
KoBioLabs
KoBioLabs
Leadership Team
GwangPyo Ko, Sc.D.
Founder/CEO
GwangPyo Ko began his career as a microbiologist, working in research for a number of years before founding Kobiolabs. He has published more than 200 papers and patents on health and related to microbiome. Since 2011, he has been a director of Center for Human and Environmental Microbiome(Seoul National University) and also a PI and board member of International Human Microbiome Consortium. Prior to joining Seoul National University as a professor of Environmental Health Microbiology, he conducted post-doctoral work from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and served as a assistant professor from University of Texas Health Science Center afterwards. He earned a M.S. and Sc.D. in Microbiology from Harvard University.
Han Seung Lee, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Lee was appointed Chief Operating Officer in January 2023. He joined Kobiolabs with more than two decades of experience in the biopharma inductry as a researcher and as a business developer. Previously he was a vice president and developmet division head at Y-Biologics, a clinical-stage Korean biotech company. Prior to Y-Biologics, he served as a business unit head for LG Chem Life Sciences Division, where he ran businesses in several therapeutic areas. Earlier he had been a drug developer for 12 years at LG Chem. He received Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from University of California, Irvine and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University.
Sang Kyun Lim, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Sang Kyun Lim is KoBioLabs’ Chief Technology Officer. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President at Kanaph Therapeutics, leading in vitro and in vivo pharmacology programs. He has extensive expertise in medical research, oncology/immune-oncology, large-scale high throughput screening, and mechanism of action studies. Dr. Lim also led drug discovery projects at Vivid Biosciences LLC, Harvard Medical School, and UT Southwestern, where he established drug screen platforms, identified key target molecules and drug candidates, and collaborated with physicians/biologists/chemists/data scientists. Dr. Lim received his B.S. in microbiology from Seoul National University and his Ph.D. in cancer biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sang Kyun Lim, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Cheolwon joined KoBioLabs as CEO in Feb 2018. He has more than 20 years of extensive experiences from drug discovery & development to business development in a pharmaceutical industry. He most recently served as Head of Portfolio & BD at Alvogen Asia Pacific and Head of R&D at Alvogen Korea. Prior to that, he worked at LG Life Sciences and CJ Cheiljedang. Cheolwon has his B.A. in Pharmacy and his M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry from Seoul National University.
Hyungjin Lee, MBA
Chief Strategy Officer
Hyungjin Lee joined KoBioLabs as Chief Strategy Officer in 2021. After the successful carriers as a consultant in Bain & Company and Goldman Sachs, he served as a managing director of the Asan Nanum Foundation. He had full responsibility for Foundation’s various programs and operations and managed Managed a $550 million fund investment in the Foundation. Hyungjin earned a MBA in MIT Sloan School of Management and his B.A. in Economics in Seoul National University.
Yurn-Su Song
Head of Clinical Development
Yurn-Su Song is in charge of Clinical Development of Kobiolabs pipeline with the responsibility in clinical operation and regulatory affairs. She has over 23 years of pharma industry experience in multinational pharma companies such as Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Boehringer Ingelheim, the majority of which has been gained in clinical operation of new drugs. She most recently served as a senior director at Archigen Biotech in supply chain and vendor management and prior to that she had a role of leading Clinical Development at Boehringer Ingelheim Korea. She has a B.A. in pharmacy from Ewha Women’s University.
Yong Won Shin, Ph.D.
Head of CMC Department
Yong Won Shin joined Kobiolabs as Head of CMC Department. He has 18 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, with a focus in bioprocess development, manufacturing support and project leadership. Prior to joining Kobiolabs, he led CMC team at GC Pharma and was responsible for Antibody engineering, Downstream Process Development, Project Management and CMC management. He holds a doctorate in Medical Science from Kyunghee University and a master’s degree in Genetic Engineering from Kyungpook National University.
Hyunkyu Lim
Chief Finance Officer
Hyunkyu Lim joined KoBioLabs as Chief Finance Officer in 2023. He has more than 15 years of experience in the accounting and finance field. After passing the CPA exam, he began his career as an external auditor and accounting advisor at KPMG Korea. After that, he joined Celltrion, a biopharmaceutical company, and gained overall accounting and finance experience, including leading various teams in finance departments. After leaving Celltrion, he returned to the accounting firm industry and worked on quality management at Grant Thornton Korea. Hyunkyu received his B.A. in Business Administration from Sungkyunkwan University.
Hyun Ju You, Ph.D.
Head of Microbiome Center
Dr. Hyun Ju You has joined KoBioLabs as a director of BAX DB Center in Apr. 2022. Dr. You has over 20 years of research and educational experience on microbiology and human physiology in academia. Dr. You has worked with Dr. GwangPyo Ko in Seoul National University for 10 years studying the effects of human microbiome on various diseases and the mechanisms of action of novel microbiome-based drug candidates. She led the research team to support scientific evidence for microbiome therapeutics and published major articles in top-tier academic journals (Cell Host & Microbe, Nature Communications, Gastroenterology, etc. ). She has B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in Human Ecology from Seoul National University.
Sangmi Nam
Head of Business Department
Sangmi Nam has joined in Kobiolabs in 2022 as the Head of Business Development. She has over 13-year career in direct business development as well as pharmaceutical related areas. Mainly she was dedicated to out-licensing of the novel products and establishing a strategy for the product development in Dong-A ST. Sangmi Nam earned her M.S in Pharmaceutics from Seoul National University and her B.A from Chungnam National University.
Monica J. Hong, Ph.D.
Deputy CTO
Dr. Monica Hong joined KoBioLabs as deputy CTO in June 2022. She has worked for over 20 years extensively in translational research as an immuno-oncologist with expertise in cancer biology, immunology, molecular biology, and infectious disease. She recently served as a senior research scientist for managing projects at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Division of Clinical Cancer Prevention, and Red & Charline McCombs Institute for Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer. Dr. Hong's research has focused on discovering novel biomarkers/therapeutic targets using multi-omics profiling analysis, developing new therapies aimed at the tumor microenvironment, and new approaches for using antibody drug-conjugate to overcome the chemotherapeutic drug-resistant. Dr. Hong is also an expert in creating genetically engineered mouse models and evaluating novel drugs for translational research. Before that, she completed post-doctoral training at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine and then served as an instructor at Baylor College of Medicine. She earned a B.S. from the Catholic University of Korea and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Seoul National University.