IPO in Progress for KOSPI Listing
Securing Capabilities for Entire Process from New Drug Candidate Discovery to Clinical Trials, Approval, and Sales
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyung-soo] Jo Jung-woo, CEO of SK Biopharm, maintained a relaxed expression throughout the online press conference related to SK Biopharm's initial public offering (IPO). Despite growing concerns that the global economic downturn period will be prolonged due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), confidence was evident that SK Biopharm's growth will not stop.
On the 15th, Jo Jung-woo, CEO of SK Biopharm, emphasized through the online press conference, "We have internalized the entire process from central nervous system drug development to commercialization," adding, "We have established the necessary global organization and competitiveness for this."
He continued, "We will continue to develop treatments with high unmet needs through our own capabilities and various forms of partnerships," expressing his ambition, "We will stand shoulder to shoulder with global pharmaceutical companies."
SK Biopharm introduced its growth strategy centered on the independently developed new drugs cenobamate and solriamfetol. Cenobamate is the first case in which a domestic company discovered a new drug candidate without technology export, directly conducted all processes including clinical trials, approval, and sales, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and proceeded to commercialization.
He said, "Among the drugs currently under development, there are no competitive drugs expected to be commercialized within 2 to 3 years," adding, "It is a favorable environment for the successful commercialization of cenobamate."
While developing central nervous system (CNS) treatments, SK Biopharm introduced a drug design platform developed with an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm optimized for new drug development, based on over 20 years of accumulated research data and experience. It is expected to efficiently discover effective substances, shorten the new drug development period, and increase the success rate of new drug development. The funds secured through the IPO are also planned to be invested in new drug research and development and commercialization as growth resources.
Jo explained, "More than half of the sales personnel have experience selling other epilepsy treatments," adding, "By actively utilizing online systems, there will be no major problems in sales during the non-face-to-face era caused by COVID-19."
It is known that there are about 10,000 specialists treating epilepsy in the United States. Considering that there are more than 200,000 doctors treating common chronic diseases such as hypertension, epilepsy can be seen as a disease treated by a small number of specialists. Since superior efficacy compared to existing treatments has been proven through clinical data, it is expected that market share will increase even with a sales organization of about 100 people.
SK Biopharm submitted a securities registration statement for listing on the Korea Exchange to the Financial Services Commission on the 19th of last month. Demand forecasting will be conducted for domestic and foreign institutional investors until the 18th, and the public offering price will be finalized. The expected public offering price range is 36,000 to 49,000 KRW. The expected public offering amount is 704.8 billion to 959.3 billion KRW. Subscription for general investors will be conducted over two days from the 23rd to the 24th.
SK Biopharm appointed NH Investment & Securities and Citigroup Global Markets Securities as lead underwriters. Korea Investment & Securities and Morgan Stanley International Securities Seoul Branch were named as joint underwriters.
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