SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genexine (KOSDAQ: 095700), a publicly-listed, clinical-stage Korean biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery and development of novel biologics for the treatment of serious unmet medical needs, announced a merger with EPD Biotherapeutics (hereinafter referred to as 'EPD Bio'), a company developing an innovative targeted protein degradation (TPD) bioPROTAC platform technology, to strengthen its research workforce with expertise in PROTAC technology and enhance Genexine’s drug pipeline.
“Through this merger, Genexine has secured key talent with innovative technology that can lead the global market and at the same time added innovative new drugs based on bioPROTAC technology. Combining EPD Bio’s bioPROTAC technology with Genexine’s clinical and CMC development capabilities will enable us to continue pursuing the development of innovative new drugs that can lead the global market,” said Sungjune Hong, CEO of Genexine.
EPD Bio founder and CEO Dr. Jaehyun Choi, an expert in the field of targeted protein degradation technology, previously worked at Arvinas, a global leader in PROTAC (Proteolysis targeting chimera) technology and held research and scientific positions at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and Trillium Therapeutics. Following the merger, Dr. Choi will join Genexine as a representative director in charge of R&D along with EPD Bio's core research team. Mr. Hong will continue as a representative director overseeing corporate development and business management.
Genexine announced that, at the board of directors meeting held on June 26th, it decided to merge with EPD Bio through a small-scale merger. The merger ratio is 1:6.1924079, and Genexine will issue new shares to the existing shareholders of EPD Bio according to the merger ratio. Detailed merger procedures are scheduled to be completed by early October.
EPD Bio is developing EPDegTM, an mRNA-based bioPROTAC technology that can overcome the limitations of existing small molecule- based PROTAC technology. The platform creates fusion-protein degraders delivered as mRNA-LNP whereby they remove the dependence on tissue specific expression of E3 ligase. As a unique technology with a potential to be first-in-class, it can generate a diverse pipeline of TPDs for multiple undruggable targets in different disease indications. EPD Bio has been receiving significant attention from the industry domestically and internationally as EPD Bio won the ‘Korea Startup/Biopharma Acceleration Program 2023’ led by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and Takeda Pharmaceutical which supports domestic bio pharmaceutical companies to discover and develop innovative technologies.
RM Global Partners LLC acted as Genexine’s strategic advisor.
About Genexine
Genexine, Inc. is a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing immunotherapeutics and next-generation long-acting biologics. Its primary technology platforms are Therapeutic DNA vaccine technology and hyFc® fusion technology. The company has multiple products in clinical development including several undergoing Phase 3 registration trials. The company's proprietary pipeline includes GX-188E (tirvalimogene teraplasmid) for head and neck cancer and cervical cancer, GX-I7 (efineptakin alfa) for multiple cancers, GX-H9 (eftansomatropin alfa) for Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency and GX-E4 for CKD-induced anemia, among others. Genexine has established multiple partnerships with global companies in order to expedite product development and commercialization and create significant value. Genexine is listed on the Korean exchange (KOSDAQ: 095700) and is headquartered in Seoul, Korea. Genexine is committed to the well-being and care of patients worldwide. For more information about Genexine, please visit at www.genexine.com.
About EPD Bio
EPD Bio is an early-stage biotech company dedicated on developing novel engineered protein degraders that selectively degrade the most undruggable disease-causing proteins that cannot be targeted by current small molecule-based PROTAC (PROteolysis TArgeting Chimera). The company was founded in 2021 and is based in Seoul, South Korea.
