GI Innovation aims to go public on Kosdaq this year

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GI Innovation aims to go public on the Kosdaq market in the second half of the year.

The new drug developer said Thursday it submitted documents for a preliminary examination to be listed on the Kosdaq market. NH Investment & Securities, Hana Financial Investment and Samsung Securities will supervise the initial public offering (IPO).

Established in 2017, the company signed two technology transfer deals with global pharmaceutical companies. In 2019, its GI-101 cancer immunotherapy candidate was licensed to Chinese pharmaceutical firm Simcere for a potential 900 billion won ($730 million) in milestone payments and double-digit royalties based on the drug's future sales. Its GI-301 allergy treatment candidate was passed to Yuhan under the deal worth up to 1.4 trillion won in 2020.

The company said it plans to announce the results of Phase 1 clinical trials of those two candidates within the year.

“Currently, GI's main pipelines, GI-101 and GI-301, are cruising well," said Rhee Byung-geon, CEO of GI Innovation. "For GI Innovation’s successful IPO and growth into a global company, we plan to keep our focus on 3S’s [Science, Strategy, Speed].”

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]