South Korean industrial conglomerate Samsung Electronics has tapped the head of its medical device business to also take over its Samsung Medison unit, according to published reports.
Jun Dong-soo has been named CEO of Samsung Medison, taking on the role in addition to his duties as chief executive of the medical equipment business, noted a March 10 article in the Korea Herald.
Jun takes over a position at the head of Samsung Medison that had been vacant since December 2015, when Cho Soo-in left the company. The vacancy led to speculation that Samsung was considering divesting the Medison division due to lower sales, according to the article.
Samsung bought a majority stake in Medison in 2010, but since then the company has lost its position as the largest Korean medical device maker and posted a net loss for the nine-month period of January to September 2015. Samsung in February denied that it was seeking to divest the division, Reuters reported.
The appointment of Jun to lead Samsung Medison puts one of Samsung's most respected executives at the helm of the unit, according to the Korea Herald.
This week at the Korea International Medical and Hospital Equipment Show (KIMES 2016) in Seoul, Jun met with reporters and talked positively about the veterinary market, for which Samsung is launched a new chemistry analyzer. He said the company plans to focus on its flagship ultrasound business.
