Myung In Pharmaceutical will be listed on the main bourse Kospi on Wednesday, marking the first IPO since Korea strengthened its mandatory lock-up rules for public offerings.

During the recent bookbuilding, the company received applications for 914.3 million shares from 2,028 institutions. The final offering price was set at 58,000 won ($41.30), the top of the target range, with 69.6 percent of participating institutions committing to lock-ups. Public subscription drew about 17 trillion won in deposits.

With the listing proceeds, Myung In Pharm plans to bolster its competitiveness in the fast-growing CNS therapeutic market and the global pellet-based CDMO sector.

The company said demand for CNS drugs is rising rapidly due to population aging and increasing cases of mental illness, while pellet formulations—valued for dosing convenience—are gaining traction as next-generation drug technologies.

IPO funds will go toward R&D on Evenamide, its investigational CNS therapy, and expanding capacity at the Paltan 1 and Balan 2 plants. The latter is set to become Korea’s largest dedicated pellet production facility.

Through these investments, Myung In Pharm aims to strengthen its CNS pipeline and expand globally through partnerships, positioning itself as a “global CNS specialty pharmaceutical company.”

“This listing marks a starting point for Myung In Pharmaceutical to demonstrate its competitiveness in the global CNS market,” CEO Lee Hang-myung said. “We will expand R&D investment and grow our pellet-based CDMO business to a global level, leaping forward as a world-class CNS specialty company.”