ABL Bio shows successful technology transfer…Lilly invests

ABL Bio also secured a strategic investment in two days after signing an L/O deal worth 3.8T with Eli Lilly

ABL Bio's stock price surged approximately 80% in just 3 days…its proprietary platform proves global competitiveness

ABL Bio, a company specializing in bispecific antibodies, successfully secured both a large-scale technology transfer agreement and a strategic investment from Eli Lilly, a global pharmaceutical company.

 

These deals instantly provided the company with over KRW 80 billion in cash reserves.

 

The consecutive deals proved the company's global technological competitiveness, causing the stock price to surge.

 

ABL Bio's market capitalization approximately doubled in just three days, from the KRW 5 trillion range to the KRW 10 trillion range.

 

According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on November 16, ABL Bio's stock price closed at KRW 174,200, a 6.5% increase from the previous trading day.

 

Earlier that day, ABL Bio briefly broke its 52-week high of KRW 195,500.

 

ABL Bio's stock price surged for three consecutive trading days from the 12th to the 14th.

 

Compared to the closing price of KRW 97,500 on the 11th, ABL Bio's stock price jumped approximately 78.7%.

 

The market capitalization increased from KRW 5.3747 trillion on November 11 to KRW 9.6028 trillion on November 14, based on closing prices.

 

During the day, the market cap peaked at KRW 10.77 trillion.

 

The company's valuation nearly doubled in just three days.

 

ABL Bio climbed to the 4th position by market capitalization on the KOSDAQ as of the November 14 closing price.

 

ABL Bio

Analysis suggests that ABL Bio's stock price surge was driven by its consecutive technology-transfer and strategic-investment agreements with Eli Lilly.

 

ABL Bio previously signed a technology transfer and joint research and development (R&D) agreement with Eli Lilly on November 12 for its Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) shuttle platform, 'Grabody-B'.

 

The deal grants Eli Lilly exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize multiple undisclosed target candidates, applying ABL Bio's Grabody-B platform to various modalities.

 

The total value of the agreement is $2.602 billion (approximately KRW 3.8072 trillion).

 

The non-refundable upfront payment is $40 million (KRW 58.5 billion), representing 1.5% of the total contract value.

 

ABL Bio will receive up to $2.562 billion (approximately KRW 3.7487 trillion) in milestone payments, contingent on clinical, regulatory, and commercialization achievements.

 

Royalties on net sales, if commercialization is successful, are separate.

 

Notably, their agreement is a 'platform deal,' transferring comprehensive rights to develop multi-target therapies using the Grabody-B platform across various modalities, rather than a single candidate molecule.

 

Since a global top-tier pharmaceutical company chose a platform that can be expanded across multiple disease areas and development methods, it is considered significant.

 

ABL Bio previously signed an R&D agreement in April with the global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop neurodegenerative disease treatments using Grabody-B.

 

That agreement was valued at £2.1401 billion (approximately KRW 4.1104 trillion).

 

At the time, ABL Bio also entered a platform agreement with GSK to develop multi-target therapies using various modalities, including siRNA, ASO, and antibodies.

 

This is significant as two global top-tier pharmaceutical companies, GSK and Eli Lilly, have chosen the ABL Bio platform.

 

Summary of ABL Bio

Such a platform's competitiveness is further confirmed by Eli Lilly's decision to make a direct equity investment.

 

Two days after the technology transfer announcement, on November 14, ABL Bio announced a capital increase of 3rd-party share allocation worth $15 million (approximately KRW 22 billion) to Eli Lilly, specifically issuing 175,079 common shares at KRW 125,900 per share.

 

The common shares issued in this transaction will be held in escrow at the Korea Securities Depository for one year.

 

ABL Bio plans to invest the secured funds in R&D, specifically advancing Grabody-B and developing bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

 

ABL Bio also announced its goal to use this investment to strengthen its new drug development capabilities and explore diverse opportunities for collaboration with Lilly for new drug development from a long-term perspective.

 

This investment is particularly noteworthy because it is a strategic investment made separately from the technology transfer agreement, suggesting that Eli Lilly highly values the commercial potential and long-term partnership value of the Grabody-B platform.

 

The fact that the same partner decided to make a consecutive strategic equity investment immediately after a technology transfer agreement is a rare event in the Korean biotech industry.

 

The market views this as evidence that ABL Bio's BBB shuttle platform has been recognized as competitive on the international stage.

 

Consequently, ABL Bio has immediately secured over KRW 80 billion in cash reserves, combining the KRW 58.5 billion upfront payment from the Grabody-B technology transfer with Lilly and the KRW 22 billion from the capital increase.

 

Including the KRW 73.9 billion upfront payment from the GSK platform technology transfer in April, ABL Bio has secured over KRW 150 billion in cash reserves from global big pharma companies this year alone.

 

ABL Bio is establishing a virtuous cycle by reinvesting funds generated from successive strategic investments and technology-transfer revenues into R&D.

 

ABL Bio recently officially launched its U.S.

 

local subsidiary, Neok Bio, to strengthen its global clinical system.

 

Neok Bio is a company dedicated to the clinical development of bispecific ADC candidates.

 

It will serve as a worldwide clinical hub, responsible for communication with U.S.

 

regulatory authorities, conducting bispecific ADC clinical trials, and formulating development strategies.