South Korea’s biotech firm SCM Lifescienc said on June 1 it has decided to lower its initial public offering price range to attract more investors for its market debut this month on the tech-heavy Kosdaq.

By issuing 1.8 million new common shares, each at a price between 14,000 won ($11.40) and 17,000 won, the biotech firm looks to raise as much as 30.6 billion won, SCM Lifescience CEO Rhee Byung-geon said in a press briefing.

SCM Lifescience CEO Rhee Byung-geon speaks at a briefing held in Seoul on Monday. (SCM Lifescience)

Under the plan, the firm’s market capitalization after listing is anticipated to reach 199.6 billion won.

The stem cell therapy developer previously announced its IPO plan in March, but backtracked as the market was facing growing uncertainty over the novel coronavirus pandemic. Three months ago, it offered a share price range of 15,500 won-18,000 won.

The exact share price is set to be announced on Wednesday. Korea Investment & Securities is an underwriter of the IPO deal.

The IPO proceeds will be used to boost its growth engines through research and development, clinical tests, construct manufacturing facilities, adopt new technologies, invest in its overseas affiliate firms and ramp up investing in new pipelines for its cell therapy products.

“We will strengthen our competitiveness by accelerating clinical tests of major pipelines and commercialization by going public. Through the plan, we’ll further maximize the firm’s value and business growth by investing in new pipelines,” Rhee said.

The 6-year-old SCM Lifescience has successfully developed high-purity stem cell therapy based on subfractionation culturing method and immuno-oncology drugs using dendritic cells and the next generation of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy or CAR-T.

The stem cell therapy developer is also working on developing drugs for septicemia and COVID-19 caused by acute respiratory syndrome, which can control potentially life-threatening cytokine storm. It will soon submit a clinical test plan to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, according to Rhee.

SCM Lifescience jointly set up Colmmune, a cell therapy firm in the US, with another local biotech firm Genexine in February last year. While the two parent companies invested 12.5 billion won to secure current good manufacturing practice facility, SCM Lifescience currently holds a 51 percent stake of the independent entity.

“After we complete our clinical tests in Korea and other countries such as Japan, Taiwan and the US, (SCM Lifescience) will turn into a global stem cell therapy developer powered by successful developments in drugs related to intractable and rare diseases,” he added.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)