By Camaron Kao  From Taipei Times

Drug maker TaiGen Biotechnology Co is set to debut its shares on the Emerging Stock Market by the end of this month and plans to use the IPO proceeds to finance clinical trials of its drugs, the company said yesterday.

The Cayman Island-registered company plans to issue 652 million shares, each with par value of US$0.001, said chief financial officer Max Chan). The firm plans to set its IPO price before Monday next week, he said.

Founded in 2001, the company currently has three new drugs in its pipeline — Nemonnoxacin, Burixafor and TG-2349. Nemonnoxacin is an antibiotic and Burixafor is used to mobilize a leukemia patient’s stem cells and TG-2349 is used to cure hepatitis C, according to the company.

Burixafor completed the phase two clinical trials in the US, and TG-2349 is under phase one and two clinical trials in both the US and Taiwan, the company said, adding that Nemonnoxacin is currently under review for new drug application in China.

Nemonnoxacin is expected to obtain its Chinese drug permit in the first half of next year, with the patent lasting till 2029, it said.

In addition, the oral formulation of Nemonoxacin was licensed to China-based Zhejiang Medicine Co for US$8 million and royalties of 7 percent to 11 percent on future sales of the drug.

The government owns 31.82 percent shares in TaiGen through varous state entities, while YFY Group holds 35.76 percent, with other shareholders, including Shin Kong Life Insurance and Cathay Life Insurance holding the remainder, according to TaiGen.

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