[Edaily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] “CEOs of publicly traded companies age quickly.”

Cha Sang-hoon, CEO of AprilBio Co.,Ltd.(397030), made this lighthearted remark about his appearance during the Research and Development (R&D) Day event held on the 9th at the Conrad Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul.

In the photos AprilBio Co.,Ltd. had previously provided to the media, CEO Cha was shown with black hair, taken before the company went public. However, when he appeared at the event that day with white hair, he made this remark, seeming somewhat embarrassed by his appearance. Although it was a light-hearted joke made before the main presentation, it was difficult to simply laugh it off, given the recent ups and downs the company has faced.

First, CEO Cha expressed his apologies as the company’s leader to shareholders, who must have been deeply disappointed and disheartened by the recent sharp drop in the stock price. In fact, AprilBio Co.,Ltd.’s stock price fell 85.4%, from 73,300 won at the close on May 12 to 10,700 won on November 6, the trading day immediately preceding the event. In particular, investor sentiment plummeted last August when Lundbeck, the company’s technology export partner, halted development of “APB-A1” for the treatment of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TED).

Lundbeck stated that while it confirmed the biological activity of APB-A1 in a Phase 1b clinical trial, it did not achieve the expected level of clinical efficacy. Although this does not mean that the entire development of APB-A1 has been halted or that the technology will be returned, it came as a significant shock to investors who had been optimistic about AprilBio Co.,Ltd.’s technological capabilities and growth potential.

CEO Cha is a biotech entrepreneur with a background in research. After earning a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of California, Davis, he served as a professor at Kangwon National University starting in 1995. He served as CEO of IG Therapy from 2000 to 2012 and founded AprilBio Co.,Ltd. in 2013. Through the founding of AprilBio Co.,Ltd., he transformed antibody technology originating from a university laboratory into a new drug development business.

Under CEO Cha’s leadership, AprilBio Co.,Ltd. licensed APB-A1 to Lundbeck in 2021 and APB-R3 to U.S.-based Evomune in 2024. The total value of the two agreements, including contingent milestones, amounts to up to $923 million (approximately 1.2 trillion won). EVO301, currently under development by Evomune, has also yielded positive results in a Phase 2a clinical trial for atopic dermatitis.

However, even after licensing technology to a global pharmaceutical company, AprilBio Co.,Ltd.’s enterprise value remained volatile. This revealed a structural limitation: as the lead in development shifted to the partner company, the company’s performance became inevitably subject not only to clinical outcomes but also to the partner’s business decisions.

CEO Cha cited the “turkey fable” that day to illustrate the uncertainty of new drug development. It is the story of a turkey that trusted the person who fed it every day and expected the same routine to continue tomorrow, only to face an unexpected fate on Thanksgiving. This illustrates that it is difficult to predict future unforeseen variables based solely on past experience and data.

He said, “I think the new drug development process is an adventure in which we take one step at a time along a pitch-black path with no visibility, relying on nothing but a single dim candle.” He continued, “Uncertainty is inherent in new drug development. No matter how solid the scientific evidence may be, there is always a possibility of failure in clinical trials,” he explained, adding, “The areas that attract global market attention can change in the blink of an eye.”

Nevertheless, CEO Cha did not view the current situation solely through a pessimistic lens. “If you compare our stock price now to its peak in mid-May, the company’s fundamentals have remained virtually unchanged,” he emphasized, adding, “In fact, we’ve made significant progress in both R&D and working capital, and our situation has definitely improved.”

Previously, AprilBio Co.,Ltd. secured 346.8 billion won in investment from TKG Group and IMM Investment in June, with the capital fully paid in by July. Combined with existing funds, the company’s secured cash liquidity now totals approximately 430 billion won. CEO Cha plans to use these funds to accelerate new drug development and expand the company’s existing antibody-focused business into new therapeutic areas and through the acquisition of promising external assets.

CEO Cha’s main concern is how to translate these secured funds into tangible results. “Simply holding cash does not automatically increase the company’s value,” he said. “What matters is how we utilize these funds to quickly deliver results.”

At the R&D Day event, CEO Cha focused on introducing three new drug candidates rather than discussing the development status of existing technology-export assets. CEO Cha’s vision is to reduce reliance on the existing SAFA platform and expand the business scope to include bispecific antibodies, short interfering RNA (siRNA), and ADCs, thereby broadening opportunities for technology licensing. He plans to focus on securing data that demonstrates the distinctiveness of the new pipeline to accelerate discussions on technology licensing with global pharmaceutical companies.

Finally, CEO Cha stated, “I cannot promise that this will lead to a rise in the stock price in the short term,” but pledged, “We will prove our worth step by step through data and execution.”

◇Profile of Cha Sang-hoon, CEO of AprilBio Co.,Ltd.
△Born January 18, 1963
△Graduated from the Department of Environmental Science at Kangwon National University in 1987
△Completed a microbiology program at Montana State University, USA, in 1989
△ Ph.D. in Immunology, University of California, Davis (UC Davis), 1993
△1993–1994: Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Davis School of Medicine
△1995–present: Professor, College of Biomedical Sciences, Kangwon National University
△ 1997–1999: Immunology Advisor at Macrogen, Inc.
△ 2000–2012: CEO, iG-Therapy
△2006–2007: Visiting Professor, Department of Pediatrics, National University of Singapore (NUS) School of Medicine
△2013–present: CEO, AprilBio Co.,Ltd.