Bio New Drug Developer 'Bioten Co., Ltd.' Establishes Foundation for Global Leap

Listed on KONEX Market... Entering the Stock Market 13 Years After Company Establishment

MFDS Food Ingredient Registration... Research on Potential COVID-19 Treatment

BioTen Co., Ltd. (CEO Kim Young-chul), a bio new drug development company located in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk, has laid the foundation for becoming a global company. BioTen is actively developing bio new drug materials through technology transfer from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, an affiliated organization of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

CEO Kim Young-cheol (center) of Bioten Co., Ltd. is taking a commemorative photo with executives and employees at the KONEX listing ceremony held at the Korea Exchange on the 13th.
[Photo by Bioten]

According to BioTen on the 13th, the Korea Exchange approved its new listing on the KONEX market on the 11th.

BioTen, which posted sales of 10.7 billion KRW, operating profit of 1.8 billion KRW, and net profit of 1 billion KRW in 2022, started trading on the day with IBK Investment & Securities as the designated advisor, at a face value of 500 KRW and an evaluated price of 8,000 KRW.

The IPO ceremony for the KONEX market was held that day at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul. Celebrating the milestone of being listed on the stock market 13 years after its establishment, the company embraced the ambitious dream of becoming a global specialized bio-material company.

The KONEX market serves as an entry-level stage for newly emerging small and medium-sized venture companies with outstanding technology to leap to KOSDAQ-listed companies. If they achieve a certain level of business performance or receive excellent evaluations, they benefit from eased screening and shortened review periods when listing on KOSDAQ.

Since its establishment in October 2010, BioTen has been developing materials based on water-solubilization technology (WIN-T) for poorly soluble natural substances through joint research and technology transfer contracts with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, as well as manufacturing and selling health foods and feed supplements.

It is regarded as a model case of a ‘public-private linkage and cooperation project’ through successful commercialization via joint research, patent applications and registrations, and technology transfer between public research institutions and local small and medium enterprises.

In February last year, the core material ‘TENQmin S Plus (TSP)’, registered as a food material with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, demonstrated therapeutic effects in COVID-19 infected animal experiments. Patent applications for this core material have been completed not only domestically but also in the United States.

Based on this exceptional technology, its competitiveness in the related field has been recognized even in overseas academia.

A paper by domestic researchers studying the potential therapeutic possibilities for COVID-19 was published in the February 2023 issue of the International Journal of Immunopharmacology.

The paper highlights the significance of TENQmin S Plus (TSP), a curcuminoid complex jointly developed by Dr. Lee Woo-song, Chief Technology Officer of BioTen (former director of the Jeonbuk branch of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology), and the Functional Bio-Materials Research Center team at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology. The complex demonstrated rapid host-wide immune recovery and antioxidant effects, opening potential therapeutic possibilities for COVID-19.

This year, following the launch of its own health food brand ’TENQmin’, BioTen has been accelerating overseas marketing activities in the United States, China, Vietnam, and Central Asia.

The core technology of TENQmin S Plus was transferred from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology to BioTen, a material development specialized company located in the Innobiz Center of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, and the company has been continuously pursuing drug development.

They have applied for clinical trial approval (IND) and are conducting official clinical trials, aiming to obtain individual certification for immune function so that anyone can consume it in daily life.

A BioTen official stated, “We confirmed that TSP significantly improves viral proliferation and pathological symptoms,” adding, “TSP provides new insights into immunological properties (immune enhancement) and has potential as a new treatment and preventive agent not only for COVID-19 and various viruses but also for cancer and bacterial infections.”

CEO Kim Young-chul said, “Taking the KONEX listing as an opportunity, we will strive to establish a more transparent and rational management system to become a company trusted by customers and shareholders,” and added, “Our long-term goal is to expand our business into the animal and human pharmaceutical fields through continuous research and development of bio materials.”

Jeongeup = Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Jae-gil yjm3070@asiae.co.kr

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