Immuneoncia Therapeutics Inc., a joint venture between South Korea’s Yuhan Corp. and San Diego-based Sorrento Therapeutics Inc., is looking to list on the Korea Exchange, having recently passed local technology evaluation.
Follow-on biologic makers in China have been working to capitalize on looming patent cliffs of blockbuster biologics. Advancing biosimilars of denosumab (Prolia/Xgeva; Amgen Inc.) and semaglutide are the latest examples.
The biopharma sector secured $13.84 billion in financings in March, marking a 38% decline from February’s $22.3 billion, yet a 27% increase from January’s $10.9 billion. In 2023, biopharma financings averaged $5.91 billion per month. March brought two biopharma IPOs, totaling $2.65 billion, driven by Galderma Group AG’s inaugural offering of more than $2 billion.
China’s Visen Pharmaceuticals (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. is targeting an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange with three rare endocrine disease therapies licensed-in from Denmark’s Ascendis Pharma A/S, including U.S. FDA-approved Skytrofa (lonapegsomatropin).
With high hopes for its LPA1R antagonist program, Contineum Therapeutics Inc. has priced an IPO of 6.9 million shares of its class A common stock at $16 per share as it seeks to generate $110 million in gross proceeds. The San Diego-based company began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker CTNM on April 5, with shares ending the day at $15.40, down 3.8%. There have been nine other biopharma IPOs so far in 2024.
“A biotech company cannot survive on ‘drug efficacy’ alone,” former Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF) CEO Hyunsong Muk said recently, “because novel drug development is not just a scientific problem.” Financial toxicity is, in fact, a major obstacle for biotech companies trying to advance preclinical candidates to early stage clinical trials, Muk said at Novo Nordisk A/S’ Partnering Day and Symposium on April 4 in Seoul, South Korea.
Building D&D Pharmatech Inc. has been a rollercoaster ride, according to CEO Seulki Lee. The U.S. and Korea-based biotech is on another ascent, having scored U.S. FDA fast track designation for its metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) drug, ahead of its third attempt at a public listing.
Boundless Bio Inc. got a lukewarm welcome on Nasdaq after pricing its IPO of 6.25 million shares at the midpoint price of $16 per share, raking in about $100 million in gross proceeds to advance its pipeline of ecDNA-driven drugs targeting oncogene-amplified tumors.
China’s Pegbio Co. Ltd. is planning a Hong Kong IPO to advance PB-119, its main glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist for diabetes nearing domestic approval, as it hopes to transition to an operating profit.
In February, the biopharma industry sustained the positive momentum observed in January, with total financings increasing 105.94%, reaching $22.3 billion compared to $10.83 billion the first month of the year. The amount positions February as the second-highest month in BioWorld’s records, trailing only May 2020, which saw $23.98 billion in total financings.
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