Central Nervous System New Drug Developer BioPharm Solutions Selected Hana Financial Investment as Lead Underwriter for IPO

Possible KOSDAQ Listing Within This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] BioPharm Solutions has selected Hana Financial Investment as the lead underwriter and is set to make a full-scale listing on the KOSDAQ market.

BioPharm Solutions announced on the 18th that it had selected the lead underwriter. After completing the pre-IPO (pre-listing investment attraction) with Hana Financial Investment earlier this year, the company plans to submit a preliminary review application for listing as early as within this year.

BioPharm Solutions, established in 2008, is a specialized new drug development company in the central nervous system and rare disease fields. The company's self-developed epilepsy treatment candidate 'JBPOS0101' is called a 'third-generation drug,' following felbamate, carisbamate, and cenobamate. Compared to previous generation drugs, it has lower toxicity and superior efficacy, and was recognized by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) for its high development potential as a top epilepsy treatment, being selected in the Red Book.

One of the company's main pipelines, a treatment for infantile spasms (pediatric epilepsy), received FDA approval for Phase 2 clinical trials in 2019 and confirmed efficacy through clinical trials. Infantile spasms is a rare, intractable disease occurring between 0.5 and 3 years of age. Although there are existing FDA-approved treatments, severe side effects mean there is currently no adequate therapy. The company expects significant future market potential due to the large unmet global demand.

Additionally, the company confirmed drug efficacy for epilepsy through suppression of photic seizure response at the Phase 2 proof-of-concept (POC) stage. For the rare disease 'epileptic encephalopathy,' the company has received Phase 2 clinical trial approval from the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and is currently conducting clinical trials.

In August last year, the company successfully licensed JBPOS0101 technology to Kyungshin Pharmaceutical, specialized in the CNS field in China. The total contract amount was set at $40 million, including an upfront payment of $5 million and milestone payments based on clinical development stages. Royalties on sales after commercialization are separate.

BioPharm Solutions is also expanding development of JBPOS0101 for other indications, notably neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. In addition, the company holds various pipelines including multiple Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials targeting various diseases.

Choi Yong-moon, CEO of BioPharm Solutions, said, "‘JBPOS0101’ developed by our company can be developed as a treatment in various fields, attracting high interest from many overseas pharmaceutical companies, and discussions for joint research and licensing deals are underway with some foreign pharmaceutical companies." He added, "Through expanded development of our core pipelines, we will grow into a global specialized company in the CNS and rare disease fields.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.