Kim Sang-pyo, CEO of AstraZeneca Korea, won the presidential citation at the ceremony for the "33rd Drug Day" at the Westin Chosun Hotel in central Seoul on Nov. 18.
Kim was credited with promoting multi-faceted external cooperation to innovate the local bio health industry and help local companies advance into the global market, and thus contributing to the development of the local pharmaceutical industry.
He was mainly responsible for communication with AstraZeneca's headquarters and other related ministries in Korea, leading to the headquarters' decision to invest in the local bio health industry for five years starting next year.
In addition, Kim signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea Bio Association in June and proposed a win-win model and measures to globalize the development of the Korean pharmaceutical industry, including clinical research and open innovation cooperation for the development of new drugs.
As part of its action plan, President Kim consistently said, "We have continued cooperative activities for the development of the Korean bio health industry by holding a meeting to pass on know-how to advance into China and seeking opportunities for business cooperation with local companies in China, while holding symposiums on the development of new drugs using artificial intelligence with the British Embassy."
"We are honored that AstraZeneca is a global company that has been recognized as a partner to contribute to domestic industry development and society," said CEO Kim, adding, "AstraZeneca will continue to work to promote growth of the domestic bio health industry and produce meaningful results in order to provide better treatment for patients in the future."
