· OmniaBio, a company specializing in process development for cell and gene therapy products
· Medipost acquiring KRW 88.6 billion in shares of OmniaBio … Expected to become the largest shareholder in 2027
· Launching a new CDMO business for cell and gene therapy products as a future growth engine… Expected to create synergy for global expansion of stem cell therapy products

Medipost (CEO Yoonsun Yang, KOSDAQ078160) acquires a foothold in North America, the world’s largest market.

Medipost announced on the 31st its final decision to invest CAD 90 million (KRW 88.6 billion) in OmniaBio, a contract development and manufacturing company (CDMO) for cell and gene therapy products headquartered in Canada.

Medipost CDMO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medipost founded to strengthen the CDMO business, announced on the 24th its decision to acquire a 39.6% stake in OmniaBio for CAD 30 million (KRW 29.5 billion). In addition, Medipost CDMO will invest CAD 60 million (KRW 59.1 billion) to purchase the Canadian company’s convertible bonds (CBs) by the end of 2024 and become the largest shareholder of OmniaBio in 2027, when the CBs convert to common shares.

OmniaBio will use this investment to build research facilities and cGMP production facilities on a 10,000 m2 site by 2025. Medipost will be starting a CDMO business in the rapidly growing field of cell and gene therapy products to tap into the North American market with its powerful lineup of stem cell therapy products.

OmniaBio was established as a subsidiary of the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), operated by the federal government of Canada. The deal calls for assets of the CDMO Division for cell and gene therapy products of the CCRM to be transferred to Medipost CDMO.

OmniaBio has already secured a network of customers in North America using its cGMP-level production facilities and process development capabilities for autologous and allogenic cell therapy products, iPSC, gene therapy products, and viral vectors. Medipost finalized its investment decision based on the outstanding process development capabilities, cGMP production capacity, and successful business operations of OmniaBio in North America.

Medipost can stably promote the CDMO business for cell and gene therapy products in North America. With the addition of a strategically located production base to conduct the phase 3 clinical trial for CARTISTEM^®, a product to treat osteoarthritis of the knee joint, and the clinical study and commercialization of SMUP-IA-01, an injectable osteoarthritis therapy product, Medipost will be perfectly positioned to expand operations in the world’s largest pharmaceutical market.

An official of Medipost explained, “OmniaBio, a verified CDMO company for cell and gene therapy products, needed to expand its business to Asia, and our company had an eye on the North American market for our CDMO business. This investment went through seamlessly because the two companies had the same intentions.”

The official added, “Medipost has undergone a life cycle development of the stem cell therapy product CARTISTEM^® and can maximize the synergy with OmniaBio, a company with the history and capacity of process development for cell and gene therapy products.”

Following the decision to invest in OmniaBio, a convertible preferred share investment of KRW 70 billion, the second stage of the investment of KRW 140 billion announced by Skylake Equity Partners and Crescendo Equity Partners in March, will be executed in June. The largest shareholder of Medipost will be changed from CEO Yun-Seon Yang to SkyMedi Limited (Skylake Equity Partners) and Marble 2022 Holdings Limited (Crescendo Equity Partners), a special affiliated party.