Bionote, which plans to go public on the Kospi market this month, presented its goal of becoming a global top-tier animal diagnostic company.

"Through the initial public offering (IPO), the company hopes to become one of the global top three in animal diagnosis and bio contents. We will invest in facilities and acquire Korean raw material companies and distributors in North America," Bionote CEO Cho Byung-ki said during a news conference ahead of the company's IPO.

As an affiliate of SD Biosensor, Bionote is receiving much attention from the pharmaceutical and investment industries. The company's largest shareholder is Chairman Cho Young-shik, founder of SD Biosensor. Chairman Cho owns 54.2 percent of the company's shares.

The company's main business is animal diagnostics and bio contents, which refer to raw materials for immune-diagnosis, molecular diagnosis, and semi-finished products targeting humans. Bionote is currently producing and supplying raw materials for Covid-19 diagnostic kits to SD Biosensor.

In a planned IPO in December, the company plans to offer 13 million depository receipts at the offering price range of 18,000 won to 22,000 won ($13.64-16.68) per share to raise a maximum of 286 billion won. If the IPO goes as planned, the expected market capitalization for the company will be between 1.87 trillion won and 2.287 trillion won.

Bionote will conduct book building for institutional investors from Thursday to Friday to determine the final IPO price, receive subscriptions from retail investors on Dec. 13-14, and go public by the end of December.

During the press conference, Bionote presented a blueprint for becoming a global top 3 company in the field of animal diagnostics.

"The top three global animal diagnostic companies currently are all U.S. companies, such as IDEXX, Zoetis, and Heska," Cho said. "Bionote plans to achieve its goals by improving brand awareness, developing innovative technologies, and securing overseas sales networks."

Notably, Cho explained that Vcheck F, its animal immuno-diagnostic device, has exceeded 16,000 units in cumulative global sales and achieved top global market share in the field of animal immune-diagnosis point of care testing market (POCT).

"The company has also recently developed the world's first automated preprocessing POCT polymerase chain reaction device," Cho said. "Also, Bionote has built a strong global sales network and has over 160 dealerships in 90 countries."

The company plans to expand its business to molecular diagnosis, biochemical diagnosis, and continuous blood glucose monitoring in the future, Cho added.

However, there are also IPO risk factors for the company, such as 80 percent of Bionote's sales are still related to its Covid-19 sales with its affiliate SD Biosensor. Also, the fact that 20 percent of the stock volume during the IPO can be released after three months and another 65 percent after six months is another risk factor.

"The goal is to reduce the share of business between affiliates from the current 80 percent to 60 percent next year, 40 percent in 2024, and 25 percent in 2025," said Noh Si-won, a senior managing director at SD Biosensor said. "While sales are also expected to temporarily decrease next year with the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, we expect it will recover from 2024."

Bionote also plans to maximize synergy with Meridian Bioscience, acquired by SD Biosensor in July, to resolve doubts about its growth potential.

"Specifically, in cooperation with Meridian, the company aims to expand new products for raw materials and semi-finished products related to immune-diagnosis, such as antibody antigens, and to create various synergies when entering the U.S. market," Noh said.