Celltrion founder Seo Jung-jin’s eldest son Seo Jin-seok has obtained a seat in the boardroom of Iksuda Therapeutics, a UK-based antibody-drug conjugates developer, according to industry sources Monday.

The latest change in Iksuda‘s boardroom came after Celltrion and Mirae Asset Group announced earlier this month a $47 million joint investment in Iksuda to acquire a controlling stake of the British company.

According to Celltrion, Iksuda has agreed with the appointment of Seo Jin-seok to the boardroom, given that Celltrion will soon be its largest shareholder.

Celltrion has already executed half of the investment, and the remaining half will be made immediately after agreed-upon development milestones are reached, the company has previously said.

Seo Jin-seok’s participation in the boardroom is expected to accelerate cooperation between Iksuda and Celltrion, according to the local biopharmaceutical industry sources.

Celltrion previously said it made the investment decision in hope that the two -- Iksuda specializing in antibody-drug conjugates and Celltrion in antibody treatment technology -- could create synergy.

The company plans to leverage Iksuda’s technology to further expand its cancer treatment pipelines.

Celltrion currently produces a number of anticancer drugs, including breast cancer treatment biosimilar Herzuma and blood cancer treatment Truxima.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)