이 기사는 2019년 12월 24일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s Prestige Biologics plans to list itself on the stock market.

Prestige Biologics has started preparation for its flotation on the country’s second-tier stock market KOSDAQ, aiming to list in the first half of 2020, sources familiar with the matter said on December 18. Mirae Asset Daewoo and Yuanta Securities Korea are acting as bookrunners.

“Prestige Biologics plans to file a preliminary prospectus for its IPO (initial public offering) with the Korea Exchange (KRX) by around early next year,” said one of the sources. “It will be one of the biggest IPOs in the biotech sector [in the country], along with an IPO planned by SK Biopharmaceuticals early next year.”

Prestige Biologics is in a strategic alliance with Prestige Biopharma, a Singapore-based biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of biologics and biosimilars. With its Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-certified production facility, Prestige Biologics is expected to continue to focus on producing biosimilar products developed by Prestige Biopharma.

Earlier this summer, Prestige Biopharma has agreed to grant exclusive license to U.K-based Mundipharma International for distribution and sale of Tuznue – its trastuzumab biosimilar – in western European markets. This led to an increase in investment in the company, which raised more than 90 billion won ($77 million) from domestic and overseas institutional investors recently. Prestige Biopharma is also planning to list on the KOSDAQ.

Prestige Biologics is expanding its business area into the development of new drugs. Its pipeline includes PAUF (PBP1510), a potential blockbuster drug for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. If the pipeline asset succeeds, it would be the first antibody therapy that targets pancreatic cancer.

Prestige Biologics and its advisors have not set a valuation target for the IPO yet, though the company’s IPO value is widely expected to range from 600 billion won ($516 million) to 800 billion won ($688 million) in the market.

“Prestige Biologics’ enthusiasm for the IPO and market conditions will likely determine the final IPO value,” a market insider said. “The success of the planned IPO of SK Biopharmaceuticals at the beginning of next year also could boost the biotech sector overall.”

(By reporter Yang Jung-woo)