[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s biosimilar maker Aprogen is likely to push back its planned initial public offering this year as its financial audit results haven’t come out, according to sources on Sept. 25.

The company, which develops cheaper, near-replicas of blockbuster biologic drugs like Remicade, initially planned to submit the IPO application to the Korea Exchange this month after completing the audit of financial statements by Sept. 15.

“It may be hard to go public this year as the audit result is pushing back the entire schedule,” a source familiar with the matter said. 

In June, Aprogen caught investors’ attention when it was granted marketing approval for its Remicade biosimilar in Japan.

The company’s market value reached nearly 2 trillion won (US$1.77 billion) at the over-the-counter exchange even as Korean biosimilar makers like Celltrion and Samsug Bioepis are aggressively expanding their footing in Europe and the US.

If the company postpones its listing, it will mark the second setback as it withdrew its application due to accounting problems in August.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)