NKMax submits US subsidiary's securities report to SEC

The listing in the US of NKGen Biotech, the American subsidiary of South Korean developer of natural killer (NK) cell therapy NKMax Co., is coming into view.

Graf Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company that NKGen is set to acquire, on Monday said it submitted an S-4 filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

After the shareholders' meeting and completion of related procedures, the listing of the merged corporation is expected within the next three quarters. NKGen on April 24 signed an agreement to take over Graf.

The new entity's ticker (stock code) is NKGN on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE American and Nasdaq. 

Completion of the listing is expected to raise momentum for NKGen's clinical research. The company will use the money from the takeover as operating funds for pay for operations like clinical trials and R&D through the second quarter of 2025.

Leading global clinical trials of its self-developed NK and super-activated NK therapies, NKMax holds a 94.86% stake in NKGen. The latter will expand research on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's along with conducting clinical trials on solid tumors.

NKGen is conducting Phase 1 trials of SNK01 to treat sarcoma, and the interim results of the company's Phase 1 trials for Alzheimer's will be announced in July at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in the US.

"We expect a smooth and successful completion of the listing process," an NKMax source said. "We will accelerate clinical research by securing funds through the listing of affiliates."

Write to Min Su Han at hms@hankyung.com