As ADEL challenges for a KOSDAQ listing under the technology exemption, it has set a corporate valuation of up to 566.5 billion won. It is drawing attention as a major new drug development biotech (biotechnology company) in the IPO (initial public offering) market. It is evaluated as a leader in degenerative brain disease treatments that has already succeeded in technology export deals worth over 1 trillion won with global big pharma (large pharmaceutical companies).
ADEL announced on the 15th that it will accelerate commercialization, including global technology transfer of its major pipeline, through its KOSDAQ listing. Adel was established as a spin-off from Seoul Asan Hospital at Ulsan University College of Medicine in 2016.
Its representative pipeline is the Alzheimer’s disease treatment ‘ADEL-Y01’. It is an antibody therapy targeting the ‘Tau’ protein, a core pathogen closely associated with cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. Tau pathology is known to have a direct correlation with neuronal damage and symptom worsening. It is used as a key diagnostic indicator for gauging the progression stage of Alzheimer’s disease.
Previously, ADEL independently discovered and researched ADEL-Y01 and received an Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Following the completion of Phase 1a clinical trials, it transferred the technology to Sanofi in December 2025 while preparing for Phase 1b. The total contract size reaches $1.04 billion (approximately 1.39 trillion won), a large-scale deal. In particular, the upfront payment, considered a core element of technology transfer deals, is $80 million (approximately 110 billion won), the highest level among domestic biotech technology transactions. This can be interpreted to mean that Sanofi highly evaluated the competitiveness and potential of ADEL-Y01.
The company emphasized that through the ADEL-Y01 technology transfer, it has demonstrated comprehensive development capabilities, including candidate molecule discovery and target selection strategies for new degenerative brain disease drugs, process establishment, mechanism of action, non-clinical efficacy and toxicity evaluation, and clinical trial design. Based on this, it is promoting the commercialization of its follow-up pipelines ‘ADEL-Y04’ and ‘ADEL-Y03’. Both are Alzheimer’s disease treatments in the non-clinical stage.
ADEL-Y04 is a pipeline being developed with a differentiated approach that can regulate various pathological mechanisms. It is explained to have potential not only as a monotherapy but also in combination therapy. Currently, it is conducting technology transfer negotiations with global big pharma. Adel expects a technology transfer contract for ADEL-Y04 to be possible next year.
ADEL-Y03 is an Alzheimer’s disease treatment with a unique mechanism, and technology transfer is estimated to be possible in 2028. It is projected to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in early 2029 after the technology transfer at the non-clinical stage.
The global Alzheimer’s disease treatment market across 68 countries is expected to grow from approximately $3.3 billion (approximately 4.41 trillion won) in 2023 to approximately $24.5 billion (approximately 32.74 trillion won) by 2033.
Its desired offering price band is 18,000 to 25,000 won. Based on the band, the offering size is 39.1 billion to 54.3 billion won, and the corporate valuation (including stock options, etc.) is 407.9 billion to 566.5 billion won. Although there are no pipelines in Phase 2 or later stages, it is interpreted as reflecting expectations for ADEL-Y01, which has succeeded in a large-scale global technology transfer. It is also evaluated that the possibility of technology transfer deals for follow-up pipelines is noteworthy.
An ADEL official said, “Based on the success experience of ADEL-Y01, we are focusing on the commercialization of our follow-up pipeline,” adding, “We possess a pipeline with such outstanding potential that it can achieve technology transfer deals under sufficiently favorable terms even at the non-clinical stage.” The official also stated, “ADEL has particularly acquired the capability to discover and design new drug candidates that meet the standards of global big pharma,” and added, “We have built a business model capable of continuously creating commercialization results.”
in THEBIO
