Source in Chinese: Investor.com.tw

PharmaEssentia announced today that it has completed the pricing of its Global Depositary Receipt (GDR) issue, raising a total of US$462 million (approximately NT$14.1 billion) in overseas fundraising, the largest overseas fundraising by a biotech company in Taiwan, and a sign that Taiwan's biotech industry has been recognized by international investors and has taken a step forward in international fundraising. The issuance of 34,000,000 common shares was a major step forward in the international fundraising process. The issuance of 34 million shares was in conjunction with the issuance of Overseas Depositary Receipts (ODRs), with each ODR share recognizing one common share of PharmaEssentia, at an issue price of US$13.61 per unit, translating into a price of approximately NT$415 per share. At the closing price of NT$440.5 on April 13, the discount was only 5.8%, and the shares were listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange on April 18. The main purpose of the fund raising is to increase PharmaEssentia's capital and to reinvest in its subsidiaries in the US and Japan.

Ropeginterferon alfa-2b (Ropeg, or P1101) has been approved for use in adults with polycythemia vera (PV) in Europe, the US and many other countries around the world and is being marketed. Ropeg has just been approved for PV in Japan at the end of March this year, and applications for PV in China and Malaysia were also submitted earlier this year.

On 10 April, PharmaEssentia held a celebration event and staff meeting in Japan to celebrate its drug certification, and the PharmaEssentia team in Japan is ready to take on the world's third largest new drug market. CEO Mr. KoChung Lin said that the Japanese team has been actively pursuing its launch activities in accordance with the original plan after receiving the drug certificate, and will later launch its sales in Japan in accordance with Japanese regulations.

The offering received more than US$1.6 billion in subscription orders from investors, approximately three times the size of the primary offering. The ODR offering was the first international capital market offering for PharmaEssentia since its IPO in 2016 and is the largest international fundraising event for the biotech medical industry in Taiwan to date. The success of this fundraising project will give PharmaEssentia more confidence to promote in global markets, deepen pharmaceutical development and international collaboration, and advance more international clinical trials. The overwhelming response from global investors is a testament to the foreign investors' confidence in PharmaEssentia's operational results and future development prospects.