ABL Bio Positioned as Next KOSDAQ Biotech Leader on Platform Technology Strength

[Korea Financial Times, Yang Hyunwoo] ABL Bio is experiencing rapid growth by leveraging its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and bispecific antibody platform technologies.

The company has grown to become a candidate for the next leading stock to fill the void left by Alteogen, the number one KOSDAQ company by market capitalization currently pursuing a KOSPI transfer. As collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies continue, market interest in ABL Bio is heating up.

According to the industry on November 25, ABL Bio CEO Lee Sang-hoon said at a press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on November 17, "The technology transfer and equity investment contract with Eli Lilly for 'Grabody-B' is highly significant," and "Through this contract, we expect therapeutic indications to expand into areas such as muscle and obesity."

The company signed a technology transfer contract worth KRW 3.8072 trillion with Eli Lilly on November 12. The upfront payment is approximately KRW 58.528 billion.

Through this contract, Eli Lilly gained exclusive rights to develop and commercialize multiple undisclosed target candidates applying the Grabody-B platform technology.

Additionally, with an equity investment contract worth KRW 22 billion, the possibility of indication expansion is significant.

The company's flagship platform, Grabody-B, is a blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration shuttle. While existing therapeutics have limitations in crossing the BBB, this platform targets insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF1R) to help drugs effectively cross the BBB and be delivered to the brain.

The BBB serves as a protective barrier preventing harmful substances and factors from entering the brain.

However, in developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, it becomes an obstacle blocking drug passage.

ABL Bio's Grabody-B technology was recognized when the company exported the Parkinson's disease treatment pipeline 'ABL301' incorporating this technology to Sanofi in January 2022 for KRW 1.55 trillion.

In April, the company transferred the Grabody-B platform to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The contract scale is up to KRW 4.1 trillion, including an upfront payment of KRW 74 billion.

ABL Bio possesses bispecific antibody, ADC, and central nervous system (CNS) therapeutic platforms. Bispecific antibodies are antibodies that simultaneously bind to different antigens, with higher therapeutic effects than single antibodies. ADC is an anticancer treatment that recognizes and targets specific cancer cells and attacks only those cancer cells.

There is also 'Grabody-T,' a Grabody family member that induces T-cell activation. It is a platform that reduces liver toxicity compared to existing 4-1BB single antibodies while increasing anticancer effects.

The company is developing six pipelines based on this. 'ABL111,' co-developed with I-Mab, is representative. CEO Lee Sang-hoon said, "Grabody-T will show visible results starting next year."

ABL Bio's representative ADC pipelines include 'ABL206' and 'ABL209.' The company plans to sequentially submit Investigational New Drug (IND) applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ABL206 in Q4 and ABL209 in Q1 next year.

The bile duct cancer drug 'ABL001' is also gaining momentum. Global rights are held by U.S.-based Compass Therapeutics, and ABL Bio is pursuing this for FDA accelerated approval.

ABL001 is a bispecific antibody new drug being developed as a second-line treatment, with possibilities of combination with immunotherapy also being discussed.

Meanwhile, Alteogen, the number one KOSDAQ company by market capitalization, is preparing for KOSPI transfer listing. The company selected Korea Investment & Securities as the lead underwriter and plans to hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on December 8 to propose and vote on related agendas. If the transfer is confirmed, ABL Bio, which is second in market capitalization among KOSDAQ biotech companies, is highly likely to naturally inherit the 'next leading stock' position.

As of November 24, ABL Bio's stock price was KRW 173,100 (closing price). This is less than half of Alteogen's closing price of KRW 527,000.

Market capitalization also shows a difference of nearly three times, with Alteogen at KRW 28.1976 trillion and ABL Bio at KRW 9.5422 trillion as of this day. Although the size difference remains large, ABL Bio is raising market expectations by consecutively completing major technology exports and growing its corporate value.

CEO Lee pledged, "We will continue to steadily expand corporate value through continuous global technology transfer achievements."

Yang Hyunwoo (yhw@fntimes.com)