PinoBio is also indirectly demonstrating the safety and efficacy of its platform technology in humans through three Phase 1 clinical trials being conducted by its technology transfer partner, #Celltrion. With these developments as its foundation, PinoBio is making another attempt to list on the KOSDAQ this year.
Application for technology evaluation in the second half of this year
PinoBio was founded in February 2017 by CEO Jeong Doo-young. CEO Jeong earned a B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from KAIST and served as a postdoctoral researcher. He founded the company after spending two years researching semiconductor materials at Samsung SDI, three years at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and five years as head of the Business Development team at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology.
PinoBio has achieved business success by licensing its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform technology to Celltrion and U.S.-based Conjugate Bio for a cumulative total of 2 trillion won.
First, in October 2022, PinoBio transferred its Pino-ADC platform to Celltrion for a total of $1.242 billion (approximately 1.9 trillion won), including an upfront payment of 1 billion won. Celltrion secured a technology implementation option allowing it to utilize PinoBio’s linker and payload platform technology for up to 15 targets.
In December 2023, the company successfully transferred its platform technology to Conjugate Bio for a total of $250 million (approximately 380 billion won). Conjugate Bio also secured the right to develop ADCs using PinoBio’s platform for a total of 15 targets.
To date, Celltrion has identified three pipeline candidates using the PinoBio platform and has advanced all of them into Phase 1 clinical trials. Specifically, these consist of △CT-P70 (cMET ADC), △CT-P71 (Nectin4 ADC), and △CT-P73 (TF ADC). These pipeline candidates demonstrated tolerability even at doses of up to 40–60 mg/kg. They exhibited approximately 8–20 times greater safety compared to competing drugs such as Emrelis, Padcept, and Tivdak.
PinoBio expects to secure additional technology transfer deals by the end of this year. The company has received term sheets from two global pharmaceutical companies. It has also signed material transfer agreements with domestic pharmaceutical companies and is currently conducting evaluations.
Jeong Doo-young, CEO of PinoBio, stated, “We are consistently receiving milestone payments from Celltrion,” adding, “We look forward to the day when we can finally disclose the data.”
He continued, “Conjugate Bio is making good progress in its research, though it has not yet reached the milestone stage,” adding, “Multiple technology transfers are likely within the year. Discussions are already well underway.”
Small-scale funding prior to listing
PinoBio’s CEO Jeong Doo-young is the largest shareholder, holding an 11.37% stake as of the end of last year. Other major shareholders include △Shinhan Venture Investment △StoneBridge Ventures △BNH Investment △IMM Investment △KB Investment △Yuanta Investment. Strategic investors (SIs) include #Anguk Pharmaceutical, #ST Pharm, Lotte Biologics, #HK Innoen, and #Celltrion.
PinoBio is making its fourth attempt to list on the KOSDAQ market this year. The company plans to apply for a technology evaluation in the second half of this year. KB Securities is serving as the lead underwriter.
PinoBio has disappointed investors by failing in its previous three attempts to go public. In its first attempt in 2021, the company failed the technology evaluation. In 2023, it passed the evaluation after receiving A and BBB ratings from SCI Evaluation Information and iCredible. However, it voluntarily withdrew its application when the KOSDAQ preliminary review process dragged on. The company made another attempt last year but received BBB and BBB ratings from Korea Evaluation Data and the Korea Invention Promotion Association.
Due to the fallout from failing the technology evaluation, the company raised funds in last year’s investment round at a discount from its previous valuation of 105 billion won. Investor interest surged at the discounted valuation, resulting in the round being oversubscribed. Although the initial target was 10 billion won, the company raised 13 billion won.
As of the end of last year, PinoBio is estimated to have approximately 14.5 billion won in cash on hand. PinoBio is reportedly conducting small-scale, informal fundraising to determine its pre-IPO valuation.
There is no set target amount, and the company is conducting investor relations (IR) presentations for firms that may be interested. Since the company was previously recognized with a post-money valuation of 190 billion won in 2020, attention is focused on the valuation for this round.
In previous IPO reviews, PinoBio was repeatedly criticized for the lack of human clinical trials and the absence of deals involving significant upfront payments. The company plans to address all these issues this time around and make another attempt.
The company has also recently strengthened its executive team. PinoBio has appointed Choi Seong-gu, who previously led new drug development at Ildong Pharmaceutical, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Additionally, the company has recruited Moon Seung-ki, who previously worked at the #Chong Kun Dang Hyojong Research Institute and served as Director of the #Alteogen Research Institute, as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).
In-house Development of PBX-004: Plans to Enter Clinical Trials in 2027, Platform Enhancement with Dual PayloadPinoBio is reportedly making steady progress in the R&D of its in-house pipeline, aiming for “asset technology transfer”—where the drug candidate itself is transferred rather than the existing platform technology.
The pipeline candidate is named PBX-004, which consists of a monoclonal antibody targeting ITGB6 attached to a GGFG linker and the PBX-7016 payload. It is being developed for the treatment of squamous non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck cancer. The company aims to initiate clinical trials next year.
CEO Jeong stated, “We are aiming for a large-scale technology transfer with PBX-004,” adding, “Although ITGB6 is not a completely new target—as Seegene is currently conducting a Phase 3 clinical trial for it—there is not much competition.”
It is also noteworthy that PinoBio is advancing its platform technology from the previous approach of attaching a single payload (drug) to a dual-payload attachment system. To date, the company has developed ADCs by attaching PBX-7016, a camptothecin-based payload. Moving forward, the company is refining its dual-payload platform to attach different payloads depending on the target and cancer type.
CEO Jeong said, “We have secured about two types of proprietary payloads and are currently in the process of selecting candidate compounds.”
