[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] BioPlus (CEO Jeong Hyungyu) announced on the 1st that it recently decided on a strategic equity investment of approximately 3 billion KRW in NobleGen (CEO Kim Taehyun) through its board meeting and signed a joint development agreement for broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.
This investment will be made through participation in a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase, acquiring 17,142 shares at a purchase price of 2,999,850,000 KRW. The post-acquisition shareholding ratio will be 5.53%.
NobleGen is a specialized company in the research and development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs and holds a mini-antibody pipeline of the antiviral substance ‘NVG308,’ which shows therapeutic efficacy regardless of the virus genotype.
Through this agreement, BioPlus and NobleGen plan to collaborate on ▲ joint research and development of broad-spectrum treatments targeting viral skin diseases such as herpes zoster, herpes simplex, and human papillomavirus ▲ promotion of antiviral substance (NVG308) and contract manufacturing organization (CMO) for virus therapeutics ▲ detailed discussions on the development, sales, and market acquisition of COVID-19 therapeutics, and cooperate to commercialize these efforts.
In particular, they agreed to mutually collaborate throughout the entire new drug development cycle, from developing optimal substances and formulations for each indication to non-clinical and clinical trials, regulatory approval, distribution, and sales. NobleGen will focus on developing core substances for treating viruses causing skin diseases, while BioPlus will handle substance production, clinical trials, regulatory approval, and sales. The global virus therapeutics market is expected to grow to 60 billion USD by 2028.
Meanwhile, BioPlus’s acquisition of this virus therapeutics pipeline is part of its strategy to strengthen its bio business. Prior to this, the company invested approximately 2.6 billion KRW in UbiProtein to enter the improved botulinum toxin and obesity therapeutics markets.
Additionally, on the 16th of last month, BioPlus completed a land contract within the Seongbon Industrial Complex, where Chungbuk Eumseong-gun is a shareholder, and is preparing to start construction next year on a new integrated production base on the site.
Jeong Hyungyu, CEO of BioPlus, emphasized, “The recent investments and strategies to expand the bio business are the results of plans the company has been gradually preparing for the past 10 years,” adding, “With the investment and agreement with NobleGen, the business structure outlined in the company’s vision at the time of its IPO has taken shape.”
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