Daewoong Pharmaceutical said on Tuesday that its U.S. partner AEON Biopharma was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday, securing $125 million in investment capital for the therapeutic indications of Daewoong’s Nabota botulinum toxin (BTX).

A day earlier, Daewoong said it paid 48.3 billion won (approximately $37 million) to acquire 3,463,318 shares in U.S.-based bioventure, Priveterra Acquisition Corp., the previous name of AEON Biopharma. This gives Daewoong a 12.63 percent stake in the company.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical signed a partnership agreement with AEON Biopharma in 2019 for the global therapeutic business of Nabota (U.S. name: Jeuveau), and AEON Biopharma currently holds the rights in the U.S., Canada, the European Union, and the U.K.

Daewoong's another U.S. partner Evolus taps into the aesthetic market.

Daewoong expects the recent listing to accelerate plans to compete with global big pharma in both the therapeutic and aesthetic markets. 

According to Fortune Business Insight, the global toxin market reached $6.5 billion last year, of which the therapeutic market accounted for 53 percent.

A company official pointed out that the therapeutic toxin market is expected to grow further as Nabota is currently being developed to treat chronic migraine which is worth $18.5 billion.

AEON Biopharma is the only company besides AbbVie that has a migraine therapeutic indication, so Nabota's value is expected to increase exponentially, Daewoong said.

AEON Biopharma plans to expand the therapeutic indications of Nabota by accelerating the ongoing clinical trials in the U.S. for episodic and chronic migraines, cervical dystonia, gastroparesis, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indications.

Nabota is in phase 2 clinical trials for episodic and chronic migraine with results expected in later 2023 for the episodic migraine indication and in 2024 for chronic migraine. The cervical dystonia indication is on track to enter the phase 3 stage in 2024, and for the gastroparesis indication, a phase 2 IND submission has been completed. The PTSD indication is still in the preclinical phase.

"AEON Biopharma's listing on the U.S. stock market confirms the positive outlook for Nabota in the therapeutic market and we will focus our efforts on entering the global toxin therapeutic market," said Daewoong Pharmaceutical Vice President Park Sung-soo.