[IPO Preview] Curecell Leads Development of Anticancer Immune Cell Therapy

CAR-T Therapy Phase 2 Clinical Trial Underway
Enhancing Cell Function with Proprietary Next-Generation CAR-T Technology
Expecting to Raise KRW 47.7 Billion to 53.6 Billion through Issuance of 1.6 Million New Shares

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy developer Curecell is raising research and development funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 30th, Curecell will issue 1.6 million new shares for the IPO. The expected price range is KRW 29,800 to KRW 33,500 per share, with a total offering size of KRW 47.7 billion to KRW 53.6 billion. From the 20th to the 26th of next month, a five-business-day demand forecast will be conducted targeting institutional investors to finalize the offering price. Samsung Securities and Mirae Asset Securities are jointly serving as lead underwriters.

Founded in 2016, Curecell is developing anticancer cell therapies using immune cells. CEO Kim Geon-su, who has approximately 23 years of experience in new drug development research and strategic planning in the pharmaceutical industry, founded the company based on the CAR-T therapy research achievements of co-founders Kim Chan-hyuk and Professor Shim Hyun-bo to develop new drugs for treating hematologic and solid cancers. Curecell is leading the CAR-T therapy field by collaborating with experts in various fields and major domestic hospitals. CAR-T therapy is a cell and gene therapy that isolates T cells, an immune cell, from a patient's blood and genetically modifies them to effectively eliminate cancer cells.

Curecell developed the world's first OVIS™ technology that removes immune checkpoint receptors, which cause functional decline in CAR-T cells. This technology enhances CAR-T cell function and improves therapeutic efficacy. OVIS patents have been filed in 25 countries, with registrations in Korea, the United States, Europe, and Japan. The CAR-T therapy applying OVIS technology, 'Anbalsel (CRC01),' announced interim results of its Phase 2 clinical trial at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in June. Curecell aims to complete Phase 2 within this year and pursue full commercialization by submitting a New Drug Application (NDA) to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in the second half of next year. CRC01 is a treatment for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Kim Geon-su, CEO of Curecell, stated, "Curecell was the first in Korea to start developing CAR-T therapies and obtain clinical approval. We plan to invest the proceeds from the offering into research and development to become an innovative anticancer immune cell therapy specialist with competitiveness not only domestically but also in overseas markets."

Earlier this year, Curecell obtained 'A' and 'BBB' ratings from Korea Evaluation Data and Korea Technology Finance Corporation, respectively, completing preparations for a technology-specialized listing. Korea Evaluation Data explained that CRC01 aims for domestic sales next year through conditional approval after completing Phase 2 clinical trials under the advanced biopharmaceutical product approval regulations. They also assessed that CRC01 could have sufficient cost competitiveness compared to major competitors' products.

Korea Technology Finance Corporation analyzed that completing Phase 2 clinical trials for CRC01 requires securing enough patients reflecting dropout rates and meeting conditions similar to previous clinical trials, which may cause some delay in commercialization schedules. They foresee that completing a universal OVIS platform technology for other hematologic and solid cancers will require separate studies on combinations with other targets. Considering the potential competitive emergence of cell therapies, they emphasized the need to reinforce clinical results and enhance recognition and competitiveness through objective efficacy comparisons with existing treatments.

Curecell plans to use most of the raised funds for research and development. They are conducting R&D on a total of 13 cancer indications for CAR-T therapy commercialization. For hematologic cancers, they are in Phase 2 clinical trials for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma indication and have completed the first patient dosing for adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia indication. For multiple myeloma (MM) indication, animal efficacy tests are underway, and for T-cell lymphoma (T lymphoma) indication, animal efficacy tests are being conducted targeting allogeneic CAR-T therapy. For solid cancer CAR-T therapies, animal efficacy tests are ongoing for prostate cancer indication, and CAR-T candidates are being developed through basic experiments by manufacturing various CAR-T structures targeting lung cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, cervical cancer, and others.

Lead underwriters Mirae Asset Securities and Samsung Securities selected six comparable companies?Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Dong-A ST, HK inno.N, JW Pharmaceutical, Samjin Pharmaceutical, and Vinex?to estimate Curecell's appropriate corporate value. They calculated the corporate value based on the average price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) of 24.5 times of the comparable companies and the estimated net income expected to generate significant sales in 2026.

Curecell projected sales of KRW 16.6 billion in 2025 and KRW 131.4 billion in 2026. They expect to turn profitable in 2026, estimating a net loss of KRW 24.6 billion in 2025 and a net profit of KRW 66.4 billion in 2026.