QuadMedicine

Founded in 2016, QuadMedicine develops a microneedle array patch (MAP) platform that redirects the delivery route of vaccines, peptides and synthetic drugs from injection or oral intake to the skin.

Its core technologies are three microneedle formats — separable (S-MAP), coated (C-MAP) and particle-attached (P-MAP) — supported by end-to-end capability spanning formulation design through sterile automated manufacturing.

QuadMedicine, currently developing pipelines across eight indications, operates a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business model intended to accelerate commercialization across multiple areas.

The business structure combines technology-fee and milestone revenue from licensing and joint-research contracts (CDO) with recurring manufacturing revenue from later-stage clinical and commercial production (CMO).

To date, the company has signed three technology-transfer agreements and six technology-partnership agreements with Hanlim Pharmaceutical, Sangmyung Innovation, LG Chem, GSK and the RIGHT Foundation, among others.

A typhoid/shigella vaccine is under joint development with GSK, while a hepatitis B vaccine program with LG Chem received Korea's first microneedle-based clinical trial approval. In 2025, revenue consisted of technology-fee income of about KRW 6.04 billion from synthetic drugs and KRW 4.32 billion from vaccine drugs.

The company also plans to expand into cosmetics and medical devices, leveraging the MAP platform in markets it describes as showing clear growth momentum. Domestic competitors include Raphas and Daewoong Therapeutics, which hold their own microneedle technologies.

QuadMedicine's consolidated revenue grew markedly from KRW 1.01 billion in 2023 to KRW 9.30 billion in 2024 and KRW 10.70 billion in 2025.

However, the operating loss narrowed from KRW 9.52 billion in 2023 to KRW 4.45 billion in 2024 before widening again to KRW 6.38 billion in 2025, pushing the operating margin from -47.8% in 2024 to -59.7% in 2025.

Net loss attributable to owners also swung from KRW 9.76 billion (2023) to KRW 4.97 billion (2024) and back up to KRW 6.87 billion (2025). The main driver of the wider loss was rising R&D spending: total R&D expenses in 2025 reached about KRW 16.48 billion, up 22.5% from the prior year.

IPO-related capital inflows lifted total equity from KRW 8.96 billion (2023) and KRW 11.60 billion (2024) to KRW 30.80 billion (2025), improving the debt ratio from 181.4% (2023) and 176.7% (2024) to 66.2% (2025).

Operating cash flow, however, flipped from positive territory (KRW 1.76 billion in 2023, KRW 1.07 billion in 2024) to negative KRW 4.55 billion in 2025, showing that expanded R&D outlays also pressured cash generation.

Quarterly results have been volatile: Q2 2025 revenue of KRW 4.16 billion produced a rare quarterly operating profit of KRW 34 million, but Q1 2026 revenue collapsed to KRW 274 million with an operating loss of KRW 4.42 billion and an owners' net loss of KRW 4.61 billion, before revenue recovered to KRW 1.53 billion in Q2 2026 alongside a continued operating loss of KRW 2.37 billion.

This underscores how technology-fee and milestone revenue recognition under the CDMO model can be irregular quarter to quarter. Individual figures for Q3 and Q4 2025 fall outside the confirmed disclosure window covered by this report and are therefore not addressed here.

Microneedles represent a next-generation drug delivery technology addressing limitations of conventional injections and oral formulations, drawing growing interest in vaccines, peptide drugs and obesity treatments where minimal invasiveness and self-administration are advantageous.

The technology is being applied to overcome the drawbacks of oral, injectable and transdermal absorption formulations, expanding into improved-drug development processes with lower risk and shorter development cycles, with global efforts concentrated on vaccine, osteoporosis and obesity treatment markets.

However, the industry remains at an early stage: microneedle drug pipelines at QuadMedicine as well as at other major domestic and international companies remain at the Phase 1 clinical level, with no approved microneedle drug product yet on the market.

As a result, risks exist that market development could be delayed due to clinical trial failure, slow establishment of regulatory frameworks, or the emergence of alternative technologies.

Domestically, companies such as Raphas and Daewoong Therapeutics hold comparable technologies, creating a competitive landscape, while QuadMedicine positions its sterile automated manufacturing capability and track record of collaboration with GSK and LG Chem as differentiators.

Demand to reduce cold-chain dependency and improve vaccine access in lower-income countries is also cited as a factor supporting microneedle adoption globally.

With the industry still in an early commercialization phase, the accumulation of regulatory approval precedents and the conversion of large pharmaceutical partnerships into definitive contracts are seen as key variables for market growth.

At the time of listing, QuadMedicine guided toward 2026 revenue of KRW 14.8 billion with an operating loss of KRW 3.9 billion, and 2027 revenue of KRW 37.9 billion with operating profit of KRW 12.0 billion.

The rationale cited was expectations that reformulation deals converting LG Chem's and GSK's vaccine products into microneedle patches would expand into definitive contracts.

In practice, the GSK contract was amended on December 29, 2025, adding repeated-dose toxicity and skin irritation/sensitization studies for the typhoid vaccine (TCV) microneedle patch and expanding the contract value to about KRW 21.55 billion, with the study period running twelve months from the amendment date.

The new cosmetics business targets roughly KRW 700 million in 2026 and KRW 1.8 billion in 2027 based on a binding term sheet for one ODM supply agreement currently under discussion, making conversion of that term sheet into a definitive contract a point to watch.

On the funding side, the KRW 24.8 billion raised through the IPO remained unspent and parked at financial institutions as of end-2025, earmarked for deployment across 2026 and 2027 toward clinical costs (KRW 7.9 billion), R&D consumables and personnel (KRW 11.5 billion), and GMP facility construction (KRW 4.3 billion).

The osteoporosis treatment being developed with Hanlim Pharmaceutical has completed a Phase 1 trial in Australia and is preparing for a domestic Phase 1b/2a trial, with further clinical stages and time still required before commercialization.

For reference, Kiwoom Securities projected 2027 revenue of KRW 34.8 billion and operating profit of KRW 10.5 billion, a somewhat more conservative figure than the company's own guidance.