GIST Startup ‘Genome&Company’ to Be Listed on KOSDAQ Next Month

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] Genome & Company, a startup founded by a professor at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), has passed the preliminary review for listing on KOSDAQ and is scheduled to be listed on KOSDAQ next month.

According to GIST on the 25th, Genome & Company, ranked first in market capitalization on KONEX, is a company developing pharmaceuticals using microbiome (intestinal microorganisms) based on antibody research and genome technology.

The main product, microbiome therapeutic ‘GEN-001,’ completed domestic patent registration in August last year, and in December of the same year, signed a technology transfer license agreement with LG Chem for the East Asia region (Korea, China, Japan).

Genome & Company successfully attracted new investment worth 20 billion KRW in a pre-IPO format (equity investment before listing) from the Korea Development Bank last August and plans to transfer from the KONEX market to the KOSDAQ market.

With the active support activities of the GIST Enterprise Support Center, the host institution of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ ‘2020 Startup Leap Package Support Project,’ Genome & Company, selected as a technology startup scout company, is expected to grow further.

The ‘2020 Startup Leap Package Support Project’ operates on two tracks: the ‘Majung’ program, a global linkage project collaborating with Microsoft, and technology startup scout selected companies.

The Majung program has been allocated a total project budget of 6.15 billion KRW to support 30 excellent AI-related startup companies, while the technology startup scout has been allocated 300 million KRW to support Genome & Company, Green System, and KS Optical.

Ki Sung-geun, head of the GIST Enterprise Support Center, said, “GIST forms consortia with leading domestic investors and conducts various specialized programs to solve difficulties in securing technology and funding needed by startups in the leap stage,” adding, “In connection with this, we are doing our best to increase the success rate of investment attraction through customized investment attraction activities for companies to provide opportunities for companies to grow one step further.”