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

Neurophet develops AI software that quantifies brain MRI and PET images — for dementia diagnosis, Alzheimer's treatment monitoring (drug response and side effects), and brain-stimulation treatment planning — plus a transcranial electrical stimulation device.

AI quantification of brain scans becomes standard as Alzheimer's drugs launch — doctors need software to monitor response and side effects.

Founded in 2016 by co-CEOs Kim Dong-hyun and Bin Joon-gil, Neurophet built brain-imaging AI products: AQUA AD for monitoring dementia-drug efficacy and side effects, SCALE PET for PET quantification, TESLAB for stimulation treatment planning, and the INK tDCS device. The underlying bet was that dementia care was moving from diagnosis to treatment, and that monitoring would need software.

On May 9, 2025, Neurophet passed KOSDAQ preliminary review; on July 14 it fixed its IPO price at the top of the band, ₩14,000, for a ₩28 billion offering and ₩160.7 billion listing market cap, with Mirae Asset Securities as lead manager. Institutional demand reached 1087.6-to-1 across 2,444 institutions, and the two-day retail subscription drew 279,248 applications and ₩672.9 billion in deposits at 1922.75-to-1.

Listed on July 25, 2025: shares opened at ₩27,000 (+92.9%), touched ₩29,400 (a 'double' against the offer price), and closed at ₩20,300, up 45% — a strong debut for Korea's medical-AI sector.

Disease-modifying Alzheimer's drugs turned brain imaging from a diagnostic aid into a recurring monitoring workflow — a market shift no incumbent dominated.

Specialized AI quantification (amyloid PET, MRI atrophy, treatment side effects) is defensible against general radiology AI because it is regulated, workflow-integrated software.

The IPO's retail frenzy (1922:1, ₩672.9B deposits) shows investors betting the therapy wave will make Korean medical AI a global export.

From diagnosis to treatment to stimulation devices, the product line covers the whole dementia-care loop, so each therapy approval adds buyers.

A therapy shift can create software demand nobody else sells: Neurophet rode Alzheimer's drug monitoring into a medical-AI IPO retail investors funded with ₩672.9B of deposits.

As of July 25, 2025, Neurophet had closed its first day up 45% at ₩20,300. The ₩28 billion raised was earmarked for advancing its Alzheimer's diagnosis-to-treatment AI line — AQUA AD monitoring, SCALE PET quantification, TESLAB planning, and the INK stimulator — and for overseas expansion as Korean hospitals began prescribing anti-amyloid drugs that require imaging follow-up. The company's bet remained that global adoption of disease-modifying dementia therapies would make AI brain-image quantification standard clinical software.