[Special Stock] BioPlus Secures 60 Billion Won Investment... Spotlight on Entry into Next-Generation Obesity Treatment Market ↑

BioPlus is showing strong performance. This is attributed to the expectation that the commercialization of next-generation obesity treatments will accelerate as the company secures an investment worth 60 billion KRW under favorable conditions.

As of 11:04 AM on the 30th, BioPlus was trading at 6,200 KRW, up 340 KRW (5.80%) compared to the previous trading day.

The day before, BioPlus announced that it had decided to issue convertible bonds worth 60 billion KRW to secure funds for pharmaceutical clinical trial costs and new facility investments. These convertible bonds will be issued with a 10% premium based on the current stock price level. This is interpreted as investors anticipating a rise in BioPlus’s stock price in the future. The nominal interest rate is also 0%.

BioPlus plans to use the funds raised this time for new facility investments at the Eumseong new plant and for clinical development of obesity and diabetes treatments, toxin recombinants without resistance, and PureToxin. Additionally, through this fundraising, the company will conduct international joint clinical trials in regions such as the United States, China, and Italy to shorten the clinical trial period of the drugs under development.

Previously, BioPlus signed a platform technology transfer agreement using peptides with PepGen. BioPlus secured PepGen’s ‘Peptide Production Fusion Partner (PG-TAG)’ and ‘High-Yield Peptide Production Technology (HYPER).’ Using this technology, the company plans to launch generic and biosimilar products of the obesity and diabetes treatment ‘Liraglutide’ and a biobetter product of ‘Semaglutide.’

For Semaglutide, a microneedle patch formulation was applied to enhance patient convenience. By utilizing microneedle patch manufacturing technology based on freeze-drying, the drug delivery rate into the body is high, and protein denaturation does not occur, resulting in increased drug stability.

BioPlus plans to launch the biobetter product of Semaglutide in line with the patent expiration in 2028 and is currently conducting preclinical trials. The company aims to enter Phase 1 clinical trials next year and plans to submit regulatory approval applications in 2028, according to the company.