[Featured Stock] Kangstem Biotech, First Perfect Implementation of Human Skin and Hair Follicles... "Expecting Commercialization of Hair Loss and Skin Regeneration"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Kangstem Biotech is showing strong performance. It appears that the news of publishing research results establishing an atopic dermatitis disease model using skin organoids in collaboration with Professor Kyung-sun Kang's research team at Seoul National University in the international journal 'iScience,' a sister journal of 'Cell,' has influenced the stock price.

As of 10:35 AM on the 29th, Kangstem Biotech is trading at 2,855 KRW, up 12.4% from the previous day.

Organoids are cell aggregates cultured to resemble human tissues. They are called 'biomimetic organs' because they mimic the characteristics of human cells.

The joint research team succeeded in obtaining skin organoids that perfectly mimic hair follicle tissues while activating 'Wnt,' one of the human body's biological signal transduction mechanisms, to inhibit cartilage formation. This is the first time research results have been announced that can obtain pure human skin tissue with all skin tissues perfectly implemented.

The research team cultured the skin organoids using the 'air-liquid' interface method to clearly distinguish the skin layers such as keratin, epidermis, and dermis.

Seunghee Lee, head of research at Kangstem Biotech, explained, "The skin organoids developed this time have the same structure and function as normal skin tissue," adding, "They implemented not only the epidermis and dermis layers but also hair follicles, sebaceous glands, melanocytes, nerve cells, and subcutaneous fat tissue."

He continued, "It is almost identical to human skin tissue," emphasizing, "We are preparing a skin organoid-based substance screening service that can be used to study the efficacy and mechanisms of active substances related to hair loss, whitening, and skin regeneration using this technology."

He also said, "In the future, commercialization into various regenerative medical technology fields, including skin grafts and hair follicle grafts for regenerating damaged skin and treating hair loss, is expected."

Organoids, also called organ mimetics or mini-organs, are three-dimensional cell aggregates capable of self-organization that resemble the function and structure of actual organs. They are expected to be utilized in various fields such as new drug development, artificial organ development, and disease treatment. According to the 'Global Organoid Market Status and Outlook' report published by the Biotechnology Policy Research Center, the organoid market is expected to reach about 4 trillion KRW by 2027.