Yuhan Corporation Acquires Microbiome Therapeutics Company AtoGen

Kang Ji-hee, CEO of A2Gen (left), and Cho Wook-je, CEO of Yuhan Corporation, are posing for a commemorative photo after the agreement ceremony.

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Yuhan Corporation announced on the 15th that it will acquire AtoGen, a microbiome therapeutic research and development company.

AtoGen is a company developing microbiome therapeutics for various diseases such as metabolic diseases, immune diseases, and muscle diseases based on its independently developed platform. It is also evaluated to have considerable research and development capabilities in developing probiotic materials for health functional foods. Previously, it was a subsidiary of the cosmetics company Tony Moly.

Yuhan Corporation secured the position of the largest shareholder of AtoGen through an existing stock acquisition. It plans to secure additional shares through a separate paid-in capital increase early next year. Through this, it aims to expand the development of microbiome-based therapeutics and the functional probiotic business.

Thus, Yuhan Corporation plans to make microbiome therapeutics, which have recently attracted attention as a new modality (therapeutic approach), and probiotic materials with high market potential its new future growth engines. Globally, the microbiome-based new drug market is still considered to be in its early stages. The technology gap between advanced countries and domestic companies is also minimal. The US company Seres Therapeutics, which is leading the field, recently succeeded in the Phase 3 clinical trial of its candidate substance 'SER-109,' raising expectations that the first microbiome new drug will be launched next year.

This equity acquisition is expected to provide AtoGen with a stable research and development (R&D) environment by having a large pharmaceutical company directly invest, breaking away from the domestic microbiome therapeutic industry's practice of raising funds from specialized investment institutions. In fact, in advanced countries such as the US and Europe, global big pharma companies often directly invest in venture companies with technology to create a stable R&D development environment.

A Yuhan Corporation official said, “Functional probiotics and microbiome therapeutics are important future growth engines for Yuhan. The combination of Yuhan Corporation’s pharmaceutical R&D experience and comprehensive support with AtoGen’s pipeline and R&D capabilities will play a crucial role in growing into a global leader in microbiome therapeutic development and helping Yuhan Corporation leap forward as a true global pharmaceutical company.”

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