HK inno.N said it has signed a share subscription agreement to acquire new shares of RaQualia Pharma Inc., a Japanese drug development company, becoming its largest shareholder.

Under the agreement, HK inno.N will acquire 2,592,100 shares of RaQualia through a third-party allocation, securing a 10.61 percent stake in the company.

The two companies plan to strengthen their strategic partnership by jointly developing new drug pipelines and advancing the Japanese market entry of K-CAB (ingredient: tegoprazan), a gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) treatment developed by HK inno.N.

Founded in 2008 by former researchers from Pfizer Japan, RaQualia is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in drug discovery. The firm initially licensed out the compound for K-CAB to HK inno.N in 2010.

RaQualia currently holds 18 drug candidates across various therapeutic areas, including gastrointestinal disorders, pain, oncology, antibody therapies, gene therapy, protein therapeutics, and small molecule drugs.

“This investment will allow us to deepen our R&D collaboration with RaQualia and create additional business synergies, particularly regarding K-CAB’s entry into the Japanese market,” HK inno.N CEO Kwak Dal-won said.