Medipost Accelerates Clinical Trials in the US... Raises 140 Billion Won in Funding

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Medipost is raising a large amount of funds to make a full-scale entry into the North American market.

On the 17th, Medipost announced that it signed an investment contract worth 140 billion KRW with Skylake Equity Partners and Crescendo Equity Partners, who are management participation-type investors.

Skylake and Crescendo are private equity funds with an investment philosophy of investing in domestic companies with secured technology and growing together in overseas markets. Having secured successful investment records in various industries, they chose Medipost as their first investment company in the bio sector.

They will acquire convertible bonds (CB) worth 70 billion KRW issued by Medipost. Subsequently, if Medipost signs an investment contract with a cell and gene therapy CDMO company in North America, with whom it is in exclusive negotiations, they will additionally acquire convertible preferred shares (CPS) with voting rights worth 70 billion KRW.

Skylake and Crescendo will acquire 400,000 shares from Medipost CEO Yang Yoon-sun's holdings. Payment will be made according to the fulfillment of the investment conditions for the convertible bonds and convertible preferred shares. Upon completion of the investment, combined with the voting convertible preferred shares, the two companies will jointly hold a total of 20.7% of Medipost shares, becoming the largest shareholders. They will participate in management alongside CEO Yang Yoon-sun. If the convertible bonds are converted into common shares, the largest shareholder's stake will further increase.

Medipost will invest 85 billion KRW in a North American cell and gene therapy CDMO company using the secured funds. It will use 55 billion KRW for U.S. clinical trials of knee osteoarthritis treatments such as Cartistem and SMUP-IA-01 to enter the U.S. osteoarthritis treatment market. Medipost is negotiating with a North American cell and gene therapy CDMO company aiming to sign an investment contract in May.

A Medipost official emphasized, "The fundraising is meaningful in that it has secured the largest shareholder who can actively support overseas business, thereby laying the foundation to maximize corporate value." He added, "The rapidly growing cell and gene therapy CDMO business is an optimal new business that can create synergy with our core competencies," and "It will become a North American production base responsible for efficient production and supply after product approval, as well as reagents for U.S. clinical trials of Cartistem and SMUP-IA-01."

A Skylake official said, "We highly evaluated Medipost's world-class stem cell selection and cultivation technology and the global expansion potential of stem cell therapies such as Cartistem," and added, "We are investing considering the synergy and growth potential with the cell and gene therapy CDMO business."

A Crescendo official stated, "Medipost has an outstanding market position in the stem cell therapy field based on excellent technology and commercial viability," and emphasized, "If combined with Crescendo's experience in fostering overseas businesses and overseas networks, Medipost will be able to grow further."

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