Vaccine specialist SK Bioscience is set to launch potentially South Korea’s biggest biopharma IPO next month on the back of a growing premium vaccine business, new opportunities in COVID-19 vaccines and its contract manufacturing operations.

Novartis, Arvelle, AstraZeneca and Incyte are among a raft of drug sponsors who should find out shortly whether the European Medicines Agency will vote in favor of approving their products for use in the EU.

Following a successful offering by Prestige BioPharma in January, investors will keep their focus on another upcoming major listing by the SK Group's specialist vaccines arm SK Bioscience, which is likely to set the tone for the South Korean biopharma IPO market this year.

2020 has kicked off with a major European biotech deal that will see the Italian conglomerate Angelini take over Switzerland's Arvelle which is on the verge of getting EU approval for an anti-epilepsy drug licensed from SK Bio that got the green light in the US two years ago.