Appclon Designated as Management Item Due to Sales Shortfall... "Goal to Resolve in First Half"

Abclon announced on the 24th that it submitted an audit report with an “unqualified” opinion and was included in the management item list due to falling short of sales targets.

For companies listed on KOSDAQ through the technology special listing system, if the five-year grace period after listing passes and the annual sales fall below 3 billion KRW, they are designated as management items. Abclon announced in January this year that its provisional sales for the previous year were 3 billion KRW, but during the audit process, some sales were recognized on a net basis rather than a gross basis, resulting in final sales not meeting the criteria.

Lee Jong-seo, CEO of Abclon, said, “This situation is completely unrelated to the essence of new drug development or the progress of research and development,” and added, “We sincerely apologize to our shareholders and stakeholders who have placed infinite trust in us, and we will thoroughly inspect the sales management system within the first half of the year and strongly promote improvement measures to prevent recurrence.”

He continued, “We will fulfill our responsibilities as a listed company and will not stop innovation and growth that meet the expectations of our shareholders so that we can return to the original goal of global new drug development,” emphasizing, “All executives and employees will work together with a heavier sense of responsibility so as not to betray the trust and interest of our shareholders.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Abclon became the first domestic cell therapy developer to license out a CAR-T therapy candidate to Turkey. Since Turkey is part of the European Union (EU), this is regarded as the first step toward entering the European market.