CrystalGenomics Acquires Hwail Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
▶ Establishment of a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company capable of innovative
R&D, development, manufacturing, and marketing.
SEOUL, KOREA, August 14, 2013 - CrystalGenomics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Korea, has just announced that it has acquired Hwail Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a KOSDAQ listed company.
It is expected that the acquisition will not only improve the financial structure of CrystalGenomics but also, maximize the corporate values of both companies through creation of a synergy.
Hwail Pharmaceutical is active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing specialized company with a long term vision of growing into an integrated pharmaceutical company through investments into other aspects of the pharmaceutical business including the finished drug products, health functional foods, and others. Hwail posted sales revenue of KRW 91,700,000,000 last year and projects sales revenue of KRW 110,000,000,000 with a net profit of KRW 9,000,000,000 for this year largely through increases in the sales of finished drug products and APIs. Additionally, the construction of cGMP standard API manufacturing facilities was completed last month and this will serve as a foothold for Hwail in penetrating the markets of developed countries including Europe and Japan.
The industry experts predict that Hwail's cGMP API facilities and international network will play an important role as CrystalGenomics' novel osteoarthritis therapeutic (CG100649) is targeted to receive marketing approval in Korea by 2014 and Hwail is expected to contribute by manufacturing APIs and finished products needed for commercialization as well as marketing of CG100649.
CrystalGenomics will focus on the R&D of both innovative drugs and, Hwail will maintain its focus on the API business while taking on the new responsibilities of manufacturing and marketing of the products that comes out of the co-development projects.
Dr. Joong Myung Cho, President & CEO of CrystalGenomics, stated, "Through acquisition of Hwail Pharma, CrystalGenomics has secured a financial stability and Hwail has gained a solid growth engine for future. Through this acquisition, the level of business expertise will become stronger for both companies and each company's technology knowhow as well as industry competitiveness will combine to establish a synergy that will create future value. This win-win business model will become Korea's first case model of a 'biotech-pharma' collaboration."
Additionally, Dr. Cho said, "Acquisition of Hwail will serve as CrystalGenomics' transformational milestone, changing from a R&D focused company into a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with manufacturing facilities as well as commercial infrastructures for both domestic and international markets.
CrystalGenomics has a vision of growing into a highly profitable biopharmaceutical company, primarily through out-licensing of its novel therapeutic programs to international partners for commercialization outside of Korea while generating domestic sales revenues, independently.