SEONGNAM, SOUTH KOREA -- Huons Co., Ltd.(KRX:243070) announced on November 5 that it decided to acquire 2,647,378 shares of PanGen Biotech Inc. by investing KRW 14.3 billion.

Huons will own PanGen shares through the acquisition of existing shareholders and a paid-in capital increase via third-party allocation. Huons also concluded a stock purchase agreement with CG Invites, the existing largest shareholder of PanGen, through a board of directors’ resolution. The company will also acquire new shares issued by PanGen. After the acquisition, Huons will own a total of 3,983,167 shares, representing a 31.53% stake to become PanGen’s largest shareholder.

Huons plans to secure management rights through an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting of PanGen and incorporate it as a subsidiary.

Huons aims to strengthen its biopharmaceutical R&D expertise and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business through this acquisition. PanGen is equipped with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities for biopharmaceutical production, and ‘PanGen CHO-TECH’, a cell line development source technology, and productization capabilities.

In June, PanGen, a raw material producer of human hyaluronidase, signed an entrustment contract with Huonslab, a Huons subsidiary, to produce clinical samples for ‘human hyaluronidase’ and conduct validation for product approval.

Human hyaluronidase is used as a substance that can conveniently convert intravenous (IV) formulations such as anticancer and antibody drugs into subcutaneous (SC) formulations. The patent currently held by Halozyme expired in Korea in March. The US patent will expire in 2027. In preparation, Huonslab received approval for the human hyaluronidase clinical trial plan (IND) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in August based on the raw material (DS) produced by PanGen and is in the course of developing it.

Huons evaluates it has secured a stable production site for development and commercialization of biopharmaceuticals including human hyaluronidase.

A Huons official said, “Through this acquisition, we’ll incorporate PanGen as a subsidiary to boost sales and enter the new biopharmaceutical CDMO business. We intend to lead the healthcare market by maximizing synergy between affiliates.”

Huons expects to create more synergies between affiliates following the latest move. Notably, it aims to expand its capabilities in biopharmaceuticals and ultimately enhance its global competitiveness.