The Public Growth Fund will provide 1 trillion won for "next-generation bio and vaccine facility construction" and "defense projects."
The Financial Services Commission said on the 26th that the Public Growth Fund held its Fund Management Deliberation Committee the day before and approved a direct equity investment in LigaChem Biosciences and an equity investment in LIG Defense&Aerospace (LIG D&A).
LigaChem Biosciences is a leading domestic corporations developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). ADCs are next-generation anticancer technology that selectively attack specific cancer cells that target cancer cells. LigaChem Biosciences is currently conducting eight global clinical trials, including a phase 3 trial for a breast cancer treatment.
LigaChem Biosciences will raise 500 billion won needed to develop new drugs based on its ADC platform technology, conduct clinical trials, and reach final productization. The Advanced Strategic Industry Fund will provide 250 billion won, and the remaining 250 billion won will be borne by the major shareholder of LigaChem Biosciences and domestic institutional investors.
LigaChem Biosciences will use the funds for late-stage clinical trials of ADC drug candidates and for discovering new pipelines.
LIG D&A will raise 500 billion won to expand mass-production facilities for Cheongung-II and L-SAM and to secure research and development (R&D) investment expense for AI-based unmanned and autonomous systems. To that end, a project fund will be created in which the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund and private financial institutions will acquire 500 billion won in preferred shares that LIG D&A plans to newly issue. IMM Investment and D Investment will manage the fund, and using the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund's contribution as seed money, they plan to raise additional capital from private financial companies.
With the funds raised, LIG D&A plans to expand production facilities for an integrated air-defense system located in Gumi and Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang, and to actively invest in advanced technology R&D in fields such as space and unmanned systems. Cheongung-II has already been deployed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), recording a high interception rate and earning recognition for its technological prowess in the global market. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said the expansion of mass-production facilities and increased capital investment in equipment in the Gumi and Gimcheon areas are expected to create local jobs and expand the ecosystem across the value chain.
Taking this capital increase as an opportunity, LIG D&A decided to pursue a 160 billion won "special export guarantee program for partners" with the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation and to make a 5 billion won contribution to the co-prosperity cooperation fund.