Korean biohealth startup ADEL has successfully completed a Series B bridge investment round, raising 17 billion KRW(12.8 million USD). This round saw participation from existing investors such as Stonebridge Ventures and Korea Development Bank, as well as new investors including Yuanta Investment, Smilegate Investment, and Mint Venture Partners.

The funds will be allocated towards the Phase 1 clinical trials of the tau antibody ‘ADEL-Y01,’ which is currently underway in the United States for treating Alzheimer’s disease, as well as for preclinical research and development of the follow-up drug pipeline, the APOE4 antibody ‘ADEL-Y04.’

With this new investment, ADEL has accumulated a total of 30 billion KRW (22.8 million USD) in funding since its Series A round in 2018. ADEL was founded in 2016 by Professor Seung-Yong Yoon from the Department of Neurology at Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University of Medicine, to develop new treatments and diagnostic biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

The tau antibody ‘ADEL-Y01’ specifically targets acetylated tau (tau-acK280), a pathological form associated with diseases such as dementia, without affecting normal tau. It received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September of last year and is currently undergoing Phase 1a/1b clinical trials to assess safety and tolerability in humans.

In addition to its work on tau, the company is developing new drug candidates targeting ApoE4 and beta-2-microglobulin, and is advancing its targeted protein degradation platform technology using autophagy.

Seung-Yong Yoon, CEO of ADEL, commented, “With the growing interest in dementia treatments following the approval of beta-amyloid antibody drugs, this investment will enable us to continue our efforts to develop new therapies that offer hope to patients and their families. We also aim to tap into the global Alzheimer’s treatment market, which is projected to exceed approximately 120 billion USD.”