HLB Expands Stake in Innovation as Group Accelerates Biopharmaceutical Restructuring

HLB said in a large shareholding report submitted to the Financial Services Commission on the 27th that it had increased its stake in HLB Innovation to 36.67%. Including shares held by specially related parties, the number of shares held totaled 11,781,847, an increase of 17,485 shares from the previous report, dated July 22. HLB stated that the purpose of its holdings was to influence management, including the appointment and dismissal of executives, amendments to the articles of incorporation, and dividend decisions.

The increase in the stake came from two sources. Chairman Jin Yang-gon purchased 13,485 shares on the open market in five transactions from the 18th through the 26th, while Kim Beom-su, a specially related party, purchased an additional 4,000 shares on the 25th. During the same period, the 254,937 shares held by HLB Life Science were transferred to HLB through an after-hours transaction, leaving HLB Life Science with no shares.

Based on shares with voting rights, HLB and specially related parties hold 11,296,340 shares, or 35.58%. HLB and HLB Pharmaceutical have also entered into convertible bond call option agreements with securities firms and others. The shares subject to the two companies’ call options total 375,507, or 1.16%.

■ From semiconductor parts maker to cell therapy company

HLB Innovation was originally a company that manufactured semiconductor lead frames, formerly known as PSMC. After being acquired by the HLB Group in 2023, it has been pursuing a transition into a biopharmaceutical company. After incorporating Verismo Therapeutics, a next-generation CAR-T therapy developer founded by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, as a subsidiary, it acquired a 99.30% stake in HLB Cell, a company specializing in cell and regenerative medicine, emerging as a central pillar of the group’s global cell therapy business.

The group’s envisioned structure is a two-track system: “the United States (Verismo, R&D and clinical trials)–South Korea (HLB Cell, manufacturing and Asian rights).” The restructuring, which concentrated HLB Life Science’s stake under HLB headquarters, aligns with an effort to establish HLB Innovation as the group’s sole control tower for its cell therapy business.

■ BlackRock stake reaches 7.15% as institutional funds flow in

Amid the ownership restructuring, the moves of outside institutional investors are also drawing attention. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, increased its stake in HLB to 7.15%, becoming the second-largest shareholder after Chairman Jin Yang-gon. It is reported to have purchased approximately 850,000 additional shares in July 2026, when the stock price had fallen after the FDA issued a complete response letter (CRL).

Industry experts interpret BlackRock’s move not simply as a bargain purchase but as a preemptive bet on the cash flow that could be generated during commercialization after FDA approval. Regarding HLB’s key pipeline candidate, the liver cancer drug rivoceranib, conditions for resubmitting an approval application are taking shape after its Chinese partner, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, received a Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI) classification from the FDA for its manufacturing facility.

Chairman Jin Yang-gon’s repeated open-market purchases are being interpreted as an effort to signal to the market management’s confidence in rivoceranib’s renewed FDA approval bid and the expansion of the biopharmaceutical pipelines of its subsidiaries. If final FDA approval becomes a reality between the second half of 2026 and 2027, whether the entire group, including HLB Innovation, will undergo a revaluation of its corporate value is emerging as a key variable.