S.Korea’s SK to buy US bio JV stake from Roivant for $48 mn
Ji-Eun Ha
Jun 30, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
SK Biopharmaceuticals researchers working on clinical trials (File photo, courtesy of SK Biopharmaceuticals) SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, is set to purchase the entire stake in a US bio joint venture held by its partner, as the group seeks a future-growth engine in the biopharmaceuticals industry.
SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., the group’s drug-developing subsidiary, said on Friday it decided to buy a 60% stake in ProteoVant Sciences Inc. for $47.5 million.
The acquisition is expected to allow SK Biopharmaceuticals to obtain world-class targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology, which decomposes proteins that cause diseases, the company said.
TO SECURE WORLD-CLASS TPD TECHNOLOGY
“TPD technology is recognized as one of the sectors with the greatest potential,” said SK Biopharmaceuticals CFO Jung Jiyoung in a conference call.
“Through the takeover, we have secured world-class TPD platform-related technology and research bases.”
SK Group, which operates its own contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business for pharmaceuticals, aims to develop its own next-generation medicines.
The group is working to achieve that goal through acquisitions instead of the traditional drug development method, in which drug candidate discovery and approvals can take years.