[비즈한국] Orion271560 is continuing its bet on the bio industry by investing an additional 125 billion KRW into LigaChem Biosciences141080. LigaChem Biosciences, which has emerged as a key pillar of Orion's new bio business, is facing increasing financial pressure as it enters late-stage clinical trials and independent development. While the market raises concerns that this may lead to a structure where cash generated from Orion's confectionery business is continuously funneled into drug development, Orion states that there will be no further investments.
Securing a Total of 500 Billion KRW Together with the National Growth Fund
On the 24th, Orion announced through its subsidiary PAN ORION Corp. Limited that it would acquire 3,915,321 shares of LigaChem Biosciences for approximately 125 billion KRW. Following the acquisition, its stake will increase to 25.53%. Regarding the purpose of this stock acquisition, Orion stated, "As the National Growth Fund selected LigaChem Biosciences as its first direct investment company in the bio sector, it was a policy-based decision that the participation of Orion, as the major shareholder, was desirable."
This investment is part of a 500 billion KRW fundraising effort initiated by LigaChem Biosciences. The structure involves raising funds through the issuance of Convertible Preferred Shares (CPS) and Convertible Bonds (CB), with 250 billion KRW funded by the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund, which serves as the source for the National Growth Fund. The remaining 250 billion KRW is shared among the largest shareholder, PAN ORION, the Korea Development Bank (KDB), and private institutional investors. The market is paying close attention, as this is the first instance of government policy funds and private capital collaborating to fund late-stage clinical development.
LigaChem Biosciences is a bio company that develops novel anticancer drugs. It is considered a leading firm possessing ADC technology that selectively delivers drugs to cancer cells, and it has grown by signing technology transfer contracts with global pharmaceutical companies based on this technology. It is currently conducting a total of eight global clinical trials, including a Phase 3 clinical trial for a breast cancer treatment, and recently embarked on large-scale fundraising to push the development and clinical trials of new drug candidates toward the final commercialization stage.
In 2024, Orion became the largest shareholder of LigaChem Biosciences by investing approximately 545.8 billion KRW through its subsidiary PAN ORION. It was the largest investment in Orion's history, representing a strategic move to fully expand into the bio business. Orion concluded that there were limits to growth through the food business alone and identified the bio industry as a future growth engine.
It formalized its entry into the bio business in 2020 by signing a joint venture agreement with the Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical, and in 2022, it established Orion Biologics under Orion Holdings to oversee the group's bio operations. Since then, it has continued to invest in anticancer drug development, culminating in becoming the largest shareholder of LigaChem Biosciences in 2024.
LigaChem Biosciences is currently considered a core pillar of Orion's bio business strategy. It is also notable that Dam Seo-won, Vice President of Orion and a third-generation member of the owner family, serves as an internal director at LigaChem Biosciences. Vice President Dam is known to have led the acquisition of LigaChem Biosciences. An Orion official explained, "As the Head of Strategic Management, Vice President Dam Seo-won is in charge of the group's mid-to-long-term strategies and future businesses, including bio. As an internal director at LigaChem Biosciences, she is involved in major decision-making."
The market interprets the owner family's direct participation in management as an expression of Orion Group's will to foster the bio business as a key future growth engine. At the same time, there is speculation that LigaChem Biosciences' performance will serve as a major benchmark for evaluating Vice President Dam's management capabilities in new businesses.
Orion: "No Plans for Additional Investment in LigaChem"
Amid the 'K-food' craze, Orion continues to post strong earnings due to the growth of its overseas subsidiaries in China, Vietnam, and Russia. In 2025, on a consolidated basis, revenue reached 3.3324 trillion KRW with an operating profit of 558.3 billion KRW, showing growth from the previous year. In the first quarter of this year, it maintained solid performance with 930.4 billion KRW in revenue and 165.5 billion KRW in operating profit.
The problem is that even with Orion's core business performing well, the burden of bio investments continues to be highlighted. Concerns have been raised that if cash earned from the confectionery business is funneled into new drug development for a prolonged period, it could lead to a structure where the core business's performance is left to support the uncertainties of the bio sector.
Last year, LigaChem Biosciences posted 141.6 billion KRW in consolidated revenue, showing growth from the previous year (125.9 billion KRW), but its operating loss widened significantly to 106.5 billion KRW (compared to 20.9 billion KRW the previous year). It also recorded a net loss of 91.6 billion KRW, reversing its profitability from 2024. In the first quarter of this year, it recorded revenue of 35.9 billion KRW, an operating loss of 37.4 billion KRW, and a net loss of 33.3 billion KRW.
As LigaChem Biosciences enters late-stage clinical trials and independent development, its cash burn rate is accelerating. Cash and cash equivalents, which were 98.6 billion KRW at the end of 2025, dropped to 63.5 billion KRW by the end of the first quarter of this year. In the first quarter alone, outsourcing costs related to new drug R&D reached 46.4 billion KRW. As late-stage trials intensify, R&D cost burdens are bound to increase, leading the market to raise the possibility of further capital raising by Orion.
In particular, new drug development is considered a business where it is difficult to predict the timing of commercialization and the ultimate success. As clinical stages progress, costs increase, while it may take significant time to translate into actual revenue. For this reason, the fact that it is difficult to gauge how long and to what scale Orion's bio investments will continue is pointed out as a burden factor.
Orion also believes it will not be easy for the investment results of LigaChem Biosciences to materialize in the short term. An Orion official explained, "New drug development is a business where capital requirements increase significantly as projects move toward late-stage clinical trials, approvals, global production, and commercialization, and it takes considerable time for results to become visible."
However, the company stated that there are no plans for additional financial support for the time being. The judgment is that since LigaChem Biosciences has secured large-scale development funds through the National Growth Fund investment, the immediate financial burden is not significant. An Orion official stated, "With the National Growth Fund investment and existing cash of approximately 450 billion KRW, LigaChem Biosciences has secured about 1 trillion KRW in development funds," adding, "There are no plans for further investment at this time."