SK Pharmteco to push for pre-IPO this year

SK Pharmteco, SK Inc.’s subsidiary of contract development and manufacturing organization, is planning for a pre-initial public offering this year, the group’s holding company SK Inc. said Tuesday. 

"SK Pharmteco will hold an advantage in the global industry with its high-quality manufacturing capacity within the leading countries," said Lee Dong-hoon, SK Inc.'s executive vice president and head of the Bio Investment Center.

"SK Inc. will be supporting the successful commercialization of the innovative new drugs business, and will be mapping out a more specific plan for an IPO."

Announcing its "Vision 2025" growth strategy at the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, SK Pharmteco also shared its past performances and plans to become a top 5 global CDMO.

"In 2021, SK Pharmteco’s forecasted sales reached an all-time high of $740 million (883 billion won), a whopping 7.5 times growth from 2017 when we began our global expansion process," said Aslam Malik, CEO of SK Pharmteco, in the online presentation.

"With the sustained growth of the small molecule APIs, SK Pharmteco is aiming to become a CDMO with annual sales of $2 billion by 2025, leveraging the cell and gene therapy business as the new growth engine."

He also emphasized SK Pharmteco’s combined US-Europe-Asia manufacturing capacity, a strong track record of regulatory compliance and outstanding pipeline based on long-term contracts. 

"The company had quickly secured manufacturing capacity in the US and Europe by acquiring Yposkesi, a leading French CDMO in gene and cell therapy, and through an investment in the Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM) in the US," said Malik.

"The market value of the two companies’ combined pipelines is approximately $2 billion, and we expect to see it rise to $6 billion in 2025 with the expansion of manufacturing capacity and customers."

The construction for Yposkesi’s second manufacturing plant is expected to be completed in 2023, doubling its capacity to 9,290 square meters. CBM also plans to build the world’s largest single cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility of 65,032 square meters in 2025.

With consistent investment, SK Pharmteco plans to expand its global manufacturing capacity by 50 percent from the current 1,000 cubic meters by 2025, according to the company.

As a first-timer at the world’s biggest healthcare conference for investors, SK Pharmteco was the only Korean company to be invited to the Private Track, which provides presentation opportunities for non-listed companies. SK Pharmteco said the company has been recognized for its potential investment value in the global market.

SK Inc. established SK Pharmteco in California in 2019 to manage its global contract manufacturing organization (CMO) and CDMO operations. SK Pharmteco is currently made up of five business units -- SK Biotek Korea, SK Biotek Ireland, Ampac Fine Chemicals, Ampac Analytical Laboratories and Yposkesi -- with eight manufacturing sites and five research and development centers in the US, Europe and Asia.

According to SK Phartemco, global companies in the US and European make up 65 percent and 30 percent of SK Pharmteco’s customers, respectively.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)