Rezolute, Inc., a US bio-venture with Handok and Genexine as its largest shareholders, has attracted USD 41 million (KRW 47.2 billion) in investments in the form of private placements by October 8, 2020. Rezolute spearheads development of innovative therapies for rare illnesses, and Handok and Genexine jointly invested in this company in 2019 to became its largest shareholders.

The investment was made with the participation of Federated Hermes Kaufmann, Surveyor Capital, and BVF Partners, among others, and managed by US CAM Capital. Federated Hermes holds assets amounting to USD 1.06 trillion around the world, among which the Kaufmann Fund is a fund with a value of USD 7.7 billion (around KRW 8.9 trillion).

The investments will be used for Phase II clinical trials of RZ358, a congenital hyperinsulinism therapy whose development is led by Rezolute, in the United States and Europe. In other words, it will be used for the Phase I study of RZ402, an oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME), in the US. Having successfully secured investment, Rezolute will pursue its plan of being listed on the Nasdaq at the earliest date possible.

Meanwhile, RZ358 was designated as a treatment for a rare pediatric disease (RPD) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2020. This enabled Rezolute to accelerate development of the drug, and to become eligible for a Priority Review Voucher that can be applied to subsequent marketing applications once RZ358 is approved as a marketable drug. Handok acquired commercialization rights for RZ358 and RZ402 in Korea in September 2020, thereby strengthening its pipeline of drugs for diabetes and rare illnesses.