[Featured Stock] Three Billion Beats Google with AI Diagnosis, Enters US Market with Technology Identifying 8,000 Rare Diseases in 5 Minutes

Three Billion is showing strength compared to its IPO price on its first day of listing. This is interpreted as a result of setting the IPO price at a market-friendly level, reflecting the recent sentiment in the IPO market. It is attracting attention as it breaks away from the recent trend of newly listed stocks on the KOSDAQ market falling sharply on their first day.

As of 10:23 AM on the 14th, Three Billion is trading at 5,000 KRW, up 11.11% from its IPO price. Its market capitalization has exceeded 150 billion KRW.

Three Billion, an AI-based rare genetic disease diagnostic testing specialist company, conducted a demand forecast for institutional investors from the 24th to the 30th of last month. The IPO price was set at the lower end of the desired range of 4,500 to 6,500 KRW, at 4,500 KRW.

A representative from Korea Investment & Securities, which underwrote the listing, explained, "The recent decline in investor sentiment in the IPO market is due to volatility in the secondary market, but the high attention from leading domestic and international institutions to Three Billion’s technology and growth potential remains unchanged. After listing, the company will continue to grow by enhancing competitiveness in existing businesses, actively targeting the U.S. market, and developing new drugs for rare genetic diseases."

After listing, Three Billion plans to accelerate ▲ entry into the world’s largest market, the U.S., and securing emerging markets ▲ development of treatments for rare genetic diseases based on accumulated rare genome data.

Three Billion provides genetic testing services that examine all 20,000 genes to test for 8,000 types of rare diseases at once. It detects genetic inheritance through genome sequencing and mutation identification, performing 100,000 whole exome sequencing (WES) and 5 million whole genome sequencing (WGS) analyses. Using AI software, it interprets the pathogenicity of genetic variants. The analysis is completed within 5 minutes with 99.4% accuracy. This is possible because the AI automates the collection of evidence for genetic variant interpretation and automatically interprets the pathogenicity of genetic variants.

Ji-eun Kim, a researcher at DB Financial Investment, explained, "Since launching the rare disease diagnostic testing service in 2019, Three Billion has been expanding its market share through contracts with global pharmaceutical companies such as Takeda Pharmaceutical, Novartis, and major hospitals like Seoul National University Hospital."

She added, "The U.S. is the largest global market for rare disease diagnostics and pharmaceuticals," and analyzed, "In April last year, the largest U.S. insurer, UHC, announced an insurance coverage policy for whole genome sequencing-based diagnostic tests for diseases other than cancer." She emphasized, "More than 60% of Americans can receive insurance coverage for whole genome sequencing-based rare genetic disease diagnostic tests. Three Billion plans to establish a lab locally in the U.S. and register for insurance-covered services or supply its software subscription (SaaS) services to major medical institutions."

Three Billion’s AI rare disease diagnostic testing technology has proven its global technological competitiveness through over 30 patents, nearly 100 clinical validation papers, and winning global AI competitions. It won the CAGI6 competition supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The pathogenicity prediction AI model that won the competition was objectively evaluated by a panel of judges and verified to outperform AlphaMissense, Google DeepMind’s pathogenicity prediction model that recently won a Nobel Prize. Based on its technology, the company currently provides rare genetic disease diagnostic testing services to over 400 institutions in more than 60 countries and has recorded a CAGR of 123% in sales over the past three years.