This article was published on July 16, 2025, at 5:55 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove website.
Biotech NEX-I, noted for its technology export of immune anticancer candidate substances to Ono Pharmaceutical, is seeking large-scale investment. The goal is to raise funds for new candidate substance development, interpreted as an investment attracting pre-IPO ahead of next year’s initial public offering (IPO).
On the 16th, according to the venture capital (VC) industry, NEX-I recently decided to raise a new investment of 50 billion won and has begun full-scale contacts with financial investors (FIs) such as VCs. This marks a more than doubling of the funding size after its series A investment attraction of 22 billion won in October 2022, nearly three years ago.
The corporate value was assessed at the low 100 billion won level. After setting the post-money value (the company value after investment) at less than 200 billion won, NEX-I plans to challenge the listing with a valuation of about 400 billion won next year, with DSC Investment, which was part of the series A investment, acting as the lead investor.
NEX-I was founded in 2021 by CEO Yoon Kyung-wan, who previously led antibody drug development at Genome & Company, aiming to develop the next generation of immune anticancer drugs. The core of the development is to awaken the immune system suppressed by cancer cells while targeting immune evasion factors (onco-cytokines) produced by cancer cells.
NEX-I already gained market attention last year with a technology export. This was because Ono Pharmaceutical, which commercialized the world’s first immune anticancer drug, chose NEX-I as a partner for anticancer drug development. Ono Pharmaceutical signed an exclusive license agreement for NEX-I’s immune anticancer candidate substance “NXI-101” and began clinical trials.
The company plans to focus on developing the second immune anticancer candidate substance “NXI-201” using the funds raised from the new investment. It is known to be similar to NXI-101, which was exported to Ono Pharmaceutical, but with a different indication. Currently, it is undergoing non-clinical toxicity tests, with plans to enter phase 1 clinical trials next year.
Investor interest is said to be high. This is due to securing a revenue base through the technology export to Ono Pharmaceutical. Daewoong Pharmaceutical and GC Biopharma have already been named as major shareholders, while many large domestic VCs, besides DSC Investment, have begun investment examinations.
The planned listing next year and the fact that it is an investment attracting pre-IPO are also cited as factors drawing investor interest. NEX-I selected Korea Investment & Securities as the lead underwriter for its listing at the end of last year. The recent revival of investment sentiment in bio stocks in the domestic stock market is also noted as a positive factor.
A source from the VC industry said, “NEX-I has proven its competitiveness through technology exports and is expected to easily surpass the listing threshold of the Korea Exchange,” adding that “due to significant investor interest, there is a high possibility of increasing the investment size from 50 billion won to more than 60 billion won.”