Helixmith Changes Ownership Again... 'Canaria → BioSolution'

The largest shareholder of first-generation biotech Helixmith will change again after one year.

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On the 20th, Helixmith announced that it had signed a management rights transfer agreement, including a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase worth 36.57535 billion KRW (approximately 7.47 million shares) targeting Biosolution, through a board resolution. The payment date for the capital increase is set for the 28th.

Once this new share issuance is completed, Helixmith's largest shareholder will change from the existing Canaria Bio M (with a 9.39% stake) to Biosolution (15.22%).

Biosolution plans to maintain most of Helixmith's research and development (R&D) programs and key pipelines. By integrating Helixmith's gene delivery technology into Biosolution's main pipeline in the cell therapy field, they aim to further strengthen their cell therapy business capabilities and utilize Helixmith's global clinical capabilities for their own cell therapy clinical trials in the United States. In particular, they have shown great interest in Helixmith's HGF/c-Met (HMET) platform-based candidates such as 'Engensis', 'NM301', and 'VM507', as well as programs like chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies.

Additionally, through mutual partnership, they plan to develop projects that can create synergy from each company's existing portfolio to expand research and business areas, and start a full-scale contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business by utilizing the 'CGT Plant', a cell therapy good manufacturing practice (GMP) production facility located at Helixmith's headquarters in Magok.

This change in the largest shareholder comes just one year after Canaria Bio M acquired Helixmith through a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase worth 35 billion KRW (approximately 2.97 million shares) in December last year. After the acquisition, the payment date for a 10 billion KRW capital increase announced by Canaria Bio M to inject operating funds was postponed five times, which is interpreted as Helixmith seeking new investors.

Jang Song-seon, chairman of Biosolution, said, "The intellectual property, platform technology, and global clinical development capabilities accumulated by Helixmith throughout the entire new drug development process are invaluable assets that cannot be measured in money." He added, "We will utilize these to develop both companies into globally recognized biotech firms." Helixmith's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Yoo Seung-shin, also stated, "We are very pleased to find a partner that can create synergy with Helixmith's R&D programs," adding, "This investment provides an opportunity to revitalize projects that had been deprioritized in U.S. clinical trials."

With this governance change, Helixmith announced its intention to promptly conclude the lawsuit filed by minority shareholders challenging the validity of the new share issuance without further dispute and to settle its relationship with the Canaria Bio Group.

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