The E&M and LukaHealth Jointly Establish New Corporation... Entering Bio New Business Based on Artificial Cell Membrane

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] THE E&M announced on the 10th that it has invested 3 billion KRW to jointly establish a new corporation (tentatively named Luka AI Cell, a 100% subsidiary of THE E&M) with Luka Health. THE E&M plans to invest an additional 7 billion KRW and 10 billion KRW around January and June next year, respectively, totaling 20 billion KRW in the new corporation.

The newly established corporation plans to utilize the artificial cell membrane (Supported Lipid Bilayer) technology owned by Dr. Namjun Cho to promote businesses such as virus and cancer diagnosis and new drug development platforms.

Artificial cell membranes have been highly demanded in the fields of new drug development and medical devices in the past, but the existing vesicle fusion method faced commercialization difficulties due to limitations in mass production and coating technologies. In contrast, Luka Health’s artificial cell membrane fabrication technology can be applied to various materials and forms.

Additionally, many applications owned by Luka Health can be immediately applied to various fields such as virus and cancer diagnosis, medical device coating, new drug development, and drug testing platforms.

Dr. Namjun Cho, who will lead the new corporation and is the CEO of Luka Health, received a master’s degree in materials engineering and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford University in the United States, and served as an NRF (National Research Foundation) Fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Namjun Cho, CEO of Luka Health, stated, “Through the new corporation Luka AI Cell, we will present a new paradigm that surpasses the limitations of the bio and materials industries so far, based on Luka Health’s core technology.”