AriBio will review its options for going public from scratch, including a standalone initial public offering, after scrapping a plan to merge into AriBio Holdings (290690.KQ). The company also plans to discuss listing strategy with China's Fosun Pharma, its licensing partner for an oral Alzheimer's drug and a strategic investor in the firm.
Chung Jae-joon, chairman of AriBio Group, said at a group vision ceremony at the Dragon City Hotel in Seoul on the 1st that the company will review its path to the stock market in a direction that benefits shareholders and group affiliates. "We will weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each option carefully before deciding," he said. He added that AriBio maintains a close relationship with Fosun Pharma and held discussions with the Chinese drugmaker during the process of withdrawing the merger. Earlier this year, AriBio signed a 7 trillion won ($5 billion) global licensing deal with Fosun Pharma for AR1001, an oral treatment for Alzheimer's disease, and also secured a strategic investment from the company.
AriBio Holdings, formerly Solux, decided at a board meeting on Sept. 29 to terminate its merger agreement with AriBio. The decision came about two years after the August 2024 announcement that AriBio would go public through the merger. Solux, a KOSDAQ-listed company, changed its name to AriBio Holdings in June this year. Kim Hoi-cheon, president of AriBio Holdings, apologized to shareholders who had waited more than two years for the merger. "We will pursue AriBio's entry into the capital market with clear principles and methods, and Holdings will play a leading role in that process," he said.
The ceremony was held to present the medium- and long-term business strategies of the group's three companies — AriBio, AriBio Holdings and AriBio Lab (261780.KQ). Chung said the three companies operate in different fields but share a single purpose of protecting human life. "AriBio Lab will focus on disease prevention, AriBio on treatment, and AriBio Holdings on management linking capital with business development," he said.
AriBio is preparing to release topline results from a global Phase 3 trial of AR1001. Fred Kim, head of AriBio's U.S. operations, said the topline data will be disclosed for the first time at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease conference in November. "Our goal is to file for approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year, commercialize the drug in 2028 and reach 1 trillion won in revenue by 2030," he said.
AriBio Lab is conducting a Phase 2 trial of a shingles vaccine. The company plans to secure topline results in the first half of next year, then move into a global Phase 3 trial and prepare for commercialization in 2028. AriBio Lab develops next-generation vaccines based on immune-adjuvant platform technology and was acquired by AriBio Holdings in March this year.
