ABION Converts 15 Billion KRW Convertible Bonds... "Significant Improvement in Financial Structure"

ABION announced on the 30th that 2,284,843 new shares will be newly listed due to the exercise of conversion rights by its largest shareholder, Telcon RF Pharmaceutical. Since the conversion rights were exercised to strengthen management control, it is unlikely that these shares will be released to the market as short-term sell-offs.

The convertible bonds (CB) for which the conversion rights were exercised this time are the 4th series CB worth 16 billion KRW acquired by Telcon RF Pharmaceutical in April. Telcon RF Pharmaceutical explained that the remaining CBs will all be converted within the first half of the year to further strengthen control and improve ABION’s financial stability.

With the exercise of the conversion rights, Telcon RF Pharmaceutical’s stake in ABION will increase from 20.4% to 27.9%. ABION’s debt-to-equity ratio will significantly decrease from 1280% to 124% due to the capital conversion effect of the debt, and the total equity will increase to 16.7 billion KRW, resolving the issue of capital erosion.

An ABION official stated, "Telcon RF Pharmaceutical, as the largest shareholder, plans to convert all held CBs into shares, which will be a major opportunity to greatly improve our financial structure," and added, "We expect them to actively support and cooperate in clinical trials and licensing out (LO) to help ABION grow into a global bio company."

In April last year, ABION issued the 4th series CB worth 21 billion KRW for the purpose of global clinical trials and research and development expenses for the hepatocyte growth factor receptor ‘c-MET’ targeted anticancer drug ‘Babamekip (ABN401)’. In April, Telcon RF Pharmaceutical acquired approximately 16 billion KRW worth of the CB.

ABN401 is currently undergoing global Phase 2 clinical trials. On the 1st of next month (local time), the cutoff results of the Phase 2 trial will be announced at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2024) held in Chicago, USA.