How one entrepreneur seeks to make affordable health care a reality

Celltrion’s JungJin SEO shares his purpose and passion for more accessible health care.

EY Global Health Sciences and Wellness leader Pamela Spence had the opportunity to chat with JungJin SEO, Founder and Honorary Chairman of the South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Group and EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2021.

In a wide-ranging discussion, what shone through was the sense of purpose that has driven SEO’s business career. His key advice to entrepreneurs was to “do something you love and take joy in” and to “ensure that you convince your employees to embrace your mission.”

In SEO’s case, he challenged himself to reduce the high medical costs that restrict access to the best medicines in a time of ageing global populations and rising, costly chronic disease. In pursuit of this goal, he built Celltrion into a powerhouse of affordable generic and biosimilar drugs, and, more recently, an innovator in antibody treatments for COVID-19.

As he told Pamela Spence, Celltrion is now moving beyond its traditional focus in an ambitious effort to bring patient-centric care into the home. Personalized, convenient care has long been an aspiring slogan for the industry, but the COVID-19 pandemic has delivered a jolt to traditional business practices which may, at last, make it a reality.

Celltrion is focused on the creation of at-home blood diagnostic tests, which can be used alongside AI-assisted telemedicine. At-home blood tests are a famously difficult challenge for innovators; but as SEO emphasized, it is important to focus on the potential opportunities, as well as the risks, of taking on major challenges.

Key to achieving Celltrion’s new goal, he emphasized, will be collaborating with all other stakeholders in the ecosystem, with “the whole world converged in this collaboration loop.” EY is proud to honor JungJin SEO’s achievements, and to play a role in convening and enabling stakeholders worldwide to collaborate on tackling the greatest challenges in health sciences and wellness.

Watch JungJin SEO’s story in “The Unstoppables 2” now available on demand on cnbc.com/unstoppables

EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2022 will be back in person in Monaco from 8-10 June 2022. Watch for news of the winner of this ultimate global competition for entrepreneurs.