April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korean biotech company Sillajen stock fell below its initial public offering issue price on Dec. 6, its first day of trading.

Shares fell 0.74 percent to 13,400 won (US$11.44) from its opening price of 13,500 won in the first two hours of trading on the tech-laden KOSDAQ market. 

The shares had been priced at the bottom end of the indicative band of 15,000 won to 17,000 won.

The company sold 10 million shares to raise 150 billion won.

Sillajen, which develops oncolytic virus immunotherapeutics for cancer, is currently pushing to commercialize its drug candidate Pexa-Vec.

Pexa-Vec, which is undergoing phase 3 clinical trials, is an oncolytic virus with demonstrated intravenous delivery to tumors, induction of cancer targeting antibodies, and improved survival in a randomized trial.

In 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration granted a Special Protocol Assessment for Sillajen’s phase 3 clinical trials of Pexa-Vec in patients with advanced liver cancer.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)