This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site at 5:32 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2025.
The largest shareholder of Eutilex, a drug developer listed on the KOSDAQ market, sold its controlling stake. Eutilex once drew investor attention with a market capitalization that reached 1 trillion won, but it has struggled to raise additional funds amid management difficulties and delays in drug development. With this sale of control, the listed company is expected to become a shell for reverse listing, while the founder is likely to move to an unlisted company to continue research.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure system on the 5th, Kwon Byung-se, founder and largest shareholder of Eutilex, signed a management rights transfer agreement with Cheongan Investment. The shares sold were 4,042,858 shares of Eutilex. The sale price was 2,474 won per share, totaling 10 billion won. The scheduled payment date for the remaining balance is Jan. 15 next year.
Eutilex was founded in 2015 and entered the KOSDAQ market in 2018 through the technology special listing system. Its main pipelines are immune-oncology drugs including CAR-T and cell and gene therapies. Immune-oncology was the hottest technology in the bio industry at the time, and Eutilex raised high expectations from investors. About three months after listing, in March 2019, its market capitalization rose to 991.5 billion won based on the closing price.
However, as Eutilex's drug development was delayed beyond expectations, the company's financial structure deteriorated rapidly. In 2019, an error in documentation was discovered and a clinical trial was delayed by 10 months. Since listing, it has not signed a single technology transfer contract. Accordingly, it has never recorded operating profit, and its liabilities have steadily increased in the meantime.
In the course of this sale, Eutilex is likely to separate its bio business, which had been its core operation. As Eutilex suffered prolonged poor performance, it merged its former subsidiary, IT solutions company I&System, into the company to meet the listing maintenance condition of 3 billion won in sales. Currently most of Eutilex's revenue comes from the IT business. As of the third quarter, Eutilex's total revenue was 79 billion won, of which 45.2 billion won came from the IT business, more than half. By contrast, bio business revenue remained around 200 million won.
During the sale of Eutilex's management rights, it is reported that a plan is under discussion for Kwon to repurchase the stake in subsidiary Pantilogos. Pantilogos spun off from Eutilex in 2020 and in 2022 received the technology transfer of "EU505," one of its main pipelines, from Eutilex. EU505 is a bispecific antibody therapeutic that attacks two targets simultaneously. It works by targeting "4-1BB," which activates immune cells, and "PD-1," which cancer cells use to block immune attacks, at the same time to maximize anticancer effects.
Eutilex owns about 70% of Pantilogos, and Kwon holds the remaining 30%. Kwon is reported to want to use part of the proceeds from the sale of Eutilex to purchase all of Eutilex's holdings in Pantilogos.
If this happens, Kwon, who led Eutilex's listing, would secure 100% of Pantilogos and continue drug development again at an unlisted company. In April, Kwon purchased shares from existing investors in Pantilogos along with related parties. At that time, he also used Eutilex shares to raise funds for the purchase price.
A capital markets industry official said, "We were informed from the time Eutilex came on the market that it could be used as a shell for reverse listing (a company that serves only as a shell as a listed company)," and criticized, "As a result of the technology special listing, only minority shareholders suffer, and only the shell company remains."