Qurient Therapeutic

Qurient Co. Ltd. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, publicly traded on the Korea Exchange (KRX: 115180), that was founded in 2008 by Ki-yean Nam and Joongsik Hwang. Initially known as Quro Science, the company originated as a spin-off from the Institut Pasteur Korea, granting it exclusive rights to the institute's discovery research products and resources. The company's strategic founder, CEO, and CSO, Dr. Ki-yean Nam, holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers Medical School and previously served as a project manager at Merck & Co. and a strategy team leader at Institut Pasteur Korea, leveraging extensive experience in pharmaceutical research and development. Qurient operates on a 'Network R&D' business model, which focuses on maintaining a lean in-house team while collaborating with an external network of experts to advance drug development programs from discovery to clinical proof-of-concept. This capital-efficient approach allows the company to pursue multiple projects in oncology and inflammatory diseases.

The company's revenue is generated through its pharmaceutical research, development, and distribution segments. A key part of its strategy involves out-licensing its drug candidates to larger pharmaceutical companies for late-stage development and commercialization. A notable example is the exclusive license agreement with the non-profit TB Alliance for the development and commercialization of Telacebec (Q203). Qurient's pipeline features several small molecule drug candidates. Adrixetinib (Q702) is a selective triple kinase inhibitor of AXL, MER, and CSF1R, designed as an immuno-oncology therapy for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies like acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It is being evaluated as a monotherapy and in combination with other treatments, including Merck's Keytruda®. Another key asset is Mocaciclib (Q901), a highly selective CDK7 inhibitor targeting various solid tumors, such as breast, pancreatic, and small cell lung cancer. This drug is being studied as a monotherapy and in combination with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The pipeline also includes Telacebec (Q203), a first-in-class inhibitor for treating tuberculosis, and Q301, a topical treatment for atopic dermatitis.

Qurient has established multiple strategic collaborations to advance its clinical programs. The company has agreements with Merck (MSD) to evaluate both Q702 and Q901 in combination with Keytruda®. It also entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study Q901 in combination with a TROP2-targeting ADC for small cell lung cancer and other solid tumors. Further collaborations for brain tumor research on Q901 are underway with Harvard University's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Colorado State University. To support its R&D activities, Qurient has secured funding from various sources, including a notable investment from DongKoo Bio & Pharma, which became the company's largest shareholder in 2024. The company also established a German subsidiary, QLi5 Therapeutics, as a joint venture with the Max Planck Society and the Lead Discovery Center to develop a new class of proteasome inhibitors.

Keywords: clinical-stage biopharmaceutical, oncology therapeutics, immuno-oncology, small molecule drugs, CDK7 inhibitor, Axl/Mer/CSF1R inhibitor, Network R&D model, drug development, tuberculosis treatment, atopic dermatitis, solid tumors, acute myeloid leukemia, antibody-drug conjugate collaboration, Ki-yean Nam, Adrixetinib (Q702), Mocaciclib (Q901), Telacebec (Q203), cancer research, virtual R&D, proteasome inhibitors, KRX: 115180