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Handok, Genexine secure majority stake in US biotech company
By Lim Jeong-yeoPublished : Jan. 9, 2019 - 17:15
Korean pharma companies Handok and Genexine became joint majority stakeholders in US biopharmaceutical group Rezolute through a 50-50 joint investment of 28 billion won ($24.9 million), Handok announced Tuesday.
Handok and its subsidiary Genexine now together hold 54 percent of Rezolute. The deal will allow the Korean pharma firms to acquire information about the work Rezolute has undertaken in biopharmaceutical development, and may also serve as a bridge to the US market.
Rezolute, established in 2010, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceuticals company that specializes in the development of innovative drug therapies for patients with metabolic diseases and orphan diseases, or those that affect a small proportion of the population.
“We are honored to have the backing and support of two mature pharmaceutical companies that are very active in pursuing therapies to treat metabolic diseases,” said Nevan Elam, Chairman and CEO of Rezolute. “Their investment provides us with the needed capital to advance our clinical programs.”
Rezolute is preparing phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of intravenous monoclonal antibodies in congenital hyperinsulinemia, an innately high level of insulin in the blood, in the US and Europe. The company is also conducting a preclinical toxicity test of oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor for diabetic macular edema and phase 1 clinical trials for weekly injectable basal insulin for diabetes.
Handok CEO Kim Young-jin said, “Rezolute has great potential for growth. In particular, its experience in the development of growth hormones will be highly helpful in accelerating the global phase 3 clinical trials on long-acting growth hormone GX-H9, which is being jointly developed by Handok and Genexine.”
By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
