Adel, a central nervous system (CNS) drug development company, announced Wednesday that it has completed a pre-IPO funding round of approximately 49 billion won ($36 million).
The company said it will now begin formal initial public offering procedures, including technology assessment and preliminary listing review applications.
A total of 15 institutional investors participated in the round, securing approximately 49 billion won—about 23% above the original target of 40 billion won. The strong result demonstrates market confidence in Adel's pipeline value and future growth potential despite the recent downturn in biotech investment sentiment, the company said.
The investment round saw strong support from both existing shareholders and new investors. Five existing investors—Stonebridge Ventures, Yuanta Investment, STIC Ventures, Smilegate Investment, and Mint Venture Partners—made follow-on investments based on their positive assessment of the company's R&D achievements and listing prospects.
Ten new investors joined the round, including Korea Investment Partners, Samsung Venture Investment, Timefolio Asset Management, and DS Asset Management. Notably, Samsung Securities and Mirae Asset Securities, the joint lead managers for Adel's planned IPO, both participated in the investment.
Adel's global business achievements underpin the strong investor interest. In December last year, the company signed a licensing-out agreement with global pharmaceutical giant Sanofi for its tau antibody candidate "ADEL-Y01." The deal is valued at up to $1.04 billion (approximately 1.53 trillion won), including $80 million in non-refundable upfront payment.
With the newly secured funds, Adel plans to accelerate development of its follow-on pipeline and strengthen partnerships with domestic and international CNS drug specialists. Targeting additional licensing deals, the company aims to advance clinical timelines for its ApoE4-targeting antibody "ADEL-Y04" and β2-microglobulin-targeting antibody "ADEL-Y03," while focusing on developing proprietary technology platforms.
"We are deeply grateful to our investors who joined us despite the challenging market environment," CEO Yoon Seung-yong said. "We will efficiently deploy the secured funds to deliver early pipeline development results and complete our KOSDAQ technology special listing within this year, growing into a global CNS specialist company."