Orion Becomes Largest Shareholder of LegoChem Biosciences with 550 Billion KRW Investment..."Expanding Bio Business"

Becoming Largest Shareholder with 25% Stake, Subsidiary Inclusion
Accelerating Leap to Global Food Bio Company

Orion will invest 550 billion KRW to acquire a 25% stake in LegoChem Biosciences (LegoChem Bio), becoming the largest shareholder. LegoChem Bio is a domestic bio-venture recognized for its technology by licensing candidate substances of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), known as next-generation anticancer drugs.

According to the disclosure on the 15th, this share acquisition will be made through a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase and purchase of existing shares. The acquiring entity is Pan Orion Corporation, an Orion affiliate based in Hong Kong, which is the holding company of seven subsidiaries in China.

Orion will participate in the third-party allotment paid-in capital increase, receiving 7,963,283 shares at 59,000 KRW per share, and purchase 1,400,000 existing shares from founder CEO Yongju Kim and President Sejin Park at 56,186 KRW per share, securing a total of 9,363,283 shares, holding more than 25% of the total shares and becoming the largest shareholder. The payment date is scheduled for March 29. Once the acquisition process is completed, Orion will incorporate LegoChem Bio as an affiliate, maintaining the existing management and operational system unchanged.

On the same day, Orion Group Vice Chairman Incheol Heo and LegoChem Bio CEO Yongju Kim signed the share transfer agreement and agreed to make their best efforts to leap forward as a global new drug company through mutual cooperation.

Vice Chairman Heo said, “We have decided on a large-scale investment for global new drug development together with LegoChem Bio, which is growing into a world-class bio company,” and promised, “As the largest shareholder, we will actively support the stable growth of the business.” CEO Kim of LegoChem Bio responded, “We will devote all our capabilities to research and development (R&D) and clinical trials to realize the dream of developing global new drugs.”

Orion has already entered the bio business; in China, Shandong Lukang Haoliyou is conducting clinical trials for colorectal cancer in vitro diagnostics and is about to complete a tuberculosis vaccine factory worth 90 billion KRW. In addition, in Korea, Orion is collaborating with Hisense Bio and has entered Phase 2 clinical trials for the development of treatments for intractable dental diseases that could change the paradigm of dental treatment.

With this acquisition of LegoChem Bio shares, Orion has taken a step into the ADC anticancer treatment market, which is attracting the most attention from global big pharma companies, accelerating the expansion of its business portfolio for sustainable growth and strengthening competitiveness in the new bio business sector.

Founded in 2005, LegoChem Bio is a pharmaceutical company with differentiated R&D capabilities in ADC technology and synthetic new drugs. In December last year, it attracted attention as a promising global anticancer drug company by signing a technology transfer agreement worth 2.2 trillion KRW with global pharmaceutical company Janssen. Since 2015, it has signed a total of 13 technology transfer contracts, with technology transfer fees amounting to 8.7 trillion KRW.