ABL Bio, 38.4 Billion KRW Revenue from 3Q Technology Licensing... Turned Profitable

ABL Bio CI (Photo by ABL Bio)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] ABL Bio succeeded in turning a profit in the third quarter thanks to consecutive technology transfer payments and the effect of a high exchange rate.

ABL Bio announced on the 15th that it recorded operating revenue of KRW 38.37829 billion, operating profit of KRW 24.9925 billion, and net profit of KRW 27.44906 billion based on consolidated financial statements for the third quarter. Operating revenue surged by 6,657% compared to the same period last year. All operating revenue came from technology transfer income. Operating profit and net profit also turned positive.

On a cumulative basis this year, operating revenue was KRW 57.39679 billion, operating profit KRW 12.19203 billion, and net profit KRW 21.02618 billion. Sales increased by 1,112% compared to last year, with both operating profit and net profit turning positive.

ABL Bio cited the joint development and technology transfer agreement for 'ABL301' with Sanofi in January as the biggest driving force behind this profit turnaround. ABL Bio has received a total of USD 95 million (approximately KRW 125.8 billion) related to this. This includes an upfront payment of USD 75 million and a short-term milestone of USD 20 million (approximately KRW 26.5 billion) last month for the GLP tox study. The short-term milestone was recognized as third-quarter operating revenue, significantly boosting performance. In particular, the high exchange rate effect also contributed to this performance improvement, as the KRW-USD exchange rate, which was around 1,200 won at the time of the contract signing in January, exceeded 1,400 won last month.

Additionally, a milestone of USD 6 million (approximately KRW 8 billion) was recognized as third-quarter operating revenue following clinical development progress of 'ABL001 (CTX-009/ES104/NOV1501)', which was licensed to Compass Therapeutics. Milestone royalties were also recognized from the first patient dosing achievement of 'ABL202 (LCB71/CS5001)', which was licensed to CStone Pharmaceuticals through a third-party technology transfer. ABL202 was licensed to CStone after being developed under a joint research agreement with LegoChem Bio. The upfront payment and milestones from this are distributed between LegoChem Bio and ABL Bio according to an agreed ratio, which remains undisclosed.

Lee Sang-hoon, CEO of ABL Bio, said, “Since our listing in December 2018, ABL Bio has operated solely on technology transfer income from our pipeline without any paid-in capital increases or convertible bond issuances. We aim to continue producing consistent results and become a model case for many bio companies that adopt technology transfer as a business strategy.”