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GC Biopharma to acquire blood bank operator ABO Holdings for $96 million

Published: 12 Dec. 2024, 15:14 Updated: 12 Dec. 2024, 16:58

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Korean pharmaceutical company GC Biopharma's blood product Alyglo displayed on a shelf. [GC BIOPHARMA]

Korean pharmaceutical company GC Biopharma will fully acquire California-based blood bank operator ABO Holdings for 138 billion won ($96.4 million), as it pushes its immunoglobulin blood medication Alyglo into the U.S. market.

The transaction will close Jan. 31, GC Biopharma said in an electronic disclosure on Wednesday, adding that the move will help it secure a stable supply of ingredients necessary for its production.

ABO Holdings operates six blood centers in California, New Jersey and Utah. Two more facilities are under construction in Texas, which is scheduled for completion in 2026.

Alyglo, an immunoglobulin replacement therapy, is a treatment for patients 17 and older with primary humoral immunodeficiency, also known as PI, which encompasses a number of different conditions that impact immunity. It became the first domestically developed blood product to receive a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2023, and GC Biopharma began exporting it to the United States in July.

“The vertical supply chain was completed from procuring the raw materials, production and sales through this acquisition,” a GC Biopharma spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ll leap forward as a global top-tier blood product company, using the acquisition as a steppingstone.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]