CBI Completes Acquisition of 50.44% Stake in Nasdaq-Listed Exicure

CBI, a KOSDAQ-listed company, announced on the 27th that it will continue its bio business by acquiring the US Nasdaq-listed company ‘XCUR’ in a surprise move, based on stable sales from its core automotive materials and parts division.

Following the listing of the US bio company Kineta under the code name ‘KA’ on Nasdaq last December, CBI has been continuously targeting the US bio market for a new leap as a future growth company.

A CBI official stated, “As a Korean company, we acquired the Nasdaq-listed company in a surprise move to expand business development and financial cooperation systems for mutual benefits and opportunities with global companies. Considering XCUR’s geographical location, headquartered in Chicago, USA, we plan to utilize it not only for the bio business but also as a foothold for overseas market entry of newly promoted businesses and as a global R&D forward base in the automotive sector.”

XCUR, whose control was transferred to CBI USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of CBI, is a company developing therapeutics capable of entering cells based on exclusive SNA (short nucleic acid) technology and has know-how in partnership contracts with multinational pharmaceutical companies. However, despite possessing excellent technology, its market capitalization has been significantly undervalued due to deteriorating market conditions such as the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes after the pandemic.

Accordingly, CBI viewed the value of developing innovative therapeutics with high unmet medical needs as an opportunity and made active investments in XCUR.

A CBI official said, “The TLR9 agonist developed by XCUR has excellent past clinical data and is evaluated as highly competitive compared to other nucleic acid therapeutic companies. Currently, technology transfer negotiations are underway with two or three parties, making the possibility of technology transfer high. XCUR possesses technology for developing treatments for neurology, oncology, inflammatory diseases, and other genetic disorders, so it is expected to attract strategic partnerships or significant interest from many investors interested in the core technology.”