Neurophet bets Alzheimer's drug monitoring needs AI imaging; ₩28B IPO pops 45%

Neurophet is a Korean medical-AI company founded in 2016 by co-CEOs Kim Dong-hyun and Bin Joon-gil. Its bet was that dementia care was about to become a treatment business, not just a diagnosis business: once disease-modifying Alzheimer's drugs reached the market, doctors would need software to quantify brain imaging — to monitor amyloid clearance, track treatment response, and watch for side effects.

The product line follows that loop: AQUA AD monitors dementia-drug efficacy and side effects, SCALE PET quantifies PET scans, TESLAB plans brain-stimulation treatment, and INK is a transcranial electrical stimulation device. For years the company rode clinical validation work and dementia-therapy pipelines; the bet's payoff came when anti-amyloid drugs like Leqembi started reaching Korean clinics and imaging follow-up became part of the protocol.

The IPO was a retail phenomenon. After passing KOSDAQ preliminary review on May 9, 2025, Neurophet priced on July 14 at ₩14,000 — the top of its ₩11,400–14,000 band — for a ₩28 billion offering and ₩160.7 billion listing market cap. Institutions bid 1087.6-to-1 across 2,444 funds, and the general subscription drew 279,248 applications with ₩672.9 billion in deposits at a 1922.75-to-1 ratio.

On listing day, July 25, 2025, the stock opened at ₩27,000 (+92.9%), touched ₩29,400 — a 'double' against the offer price — and closed at ₩20,300, up 45%. Co-CEO Bin Joon-gil said the proceeds would go to advancing the dementia diagnosis-to-treatment AI line and overseas expansion; the company was explicitly betting that global adoption of Alzheimer's therapies would make AI brain-image quantification standard clinical software.