GI Innovation Submits Preliminary Review Application for KOSDAQ Listing

by Lee Gwanju

Published 21 Apr.2022 08:31(KST)

GI Innovation Submits Preliminary Review Application for KOSDAQ Listing

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] GI Innovation, a new drug development company, announced on the 21st that it has submitted a preliminary review application for listing on KOSDAQ. The lead underwriters are NH Investment & Securities and Hana Financial Investment, with Samsung Securities participating as a co-lead underwriter.

GI Innovation is proceeding under the market evaluation excellent company special listing (Unicorn Special) category. The Unicorn Special listing is a listing requirement newly established by the Korea Exchange to simplify the technology evaluation process for market-evaluated excellent companies. Companies expected to have a market capitalization of over 500 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market can qualify to apply for the preliminary review for KOSDAQ listing if they receive an 'A' or higher rating from just one evaluation agency.

GI Innovation received an 'A' rating in the technology evaluation last November and plans to proceed with the initial public offering (IPO) process targeting the second half of this year.

GI Innovation successfully completed two technology transfers at the preclinical stage. The immuno-oncology drug GI-101, developed using the proprietary platform GI-SMART technology, was licensed to Simcere in China in 2019 for approximately 900 billion KRW, and the allergy treatment drug GI-301 was licensed to Yuhan Corporation in 2020 for approximately 1.4 trillion KRW. GI-101 is currently undergoing Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials (in Korea and the United States), and GI-301 is in Phase 1 clinical trials (in Korea).

Chairman and CEO Lee Byung-gun said, “All clinical trials for GI Innovation’s main pipelines, GI-101 and GI-301, are progressing smoothly. We will focus on the company’s key strategy of '3S (Science, Strategy, Speed)' not only to prepare for the remaining listing procedures but also to leap forward as a global company.”