Why a Lung Cancer Diagnostics Biotech Became a Dog Treat Company

KOSDAQ-listed Aptamer Sciences has dropped “aptamer” from its name.

At an extraordinary shareholders meeting on July 8, Aptamer Sciences approved an amendment to its articles of incorporation changing its corporate name to “츌립앤사이언스” (CHOOLIP & SCIENCES). In a regulatory filing, the company said the reason for the change was “a corporate-name change resulting from changes to the company’s business objectives and its business-diversification strategy.”

The amendment passed with 42.2% approval based on the total number of issued shares with voting rights. Among the shares that exercised voting rights, not a single share voted against it.

The company also expanded its business objectives that day. Manufacturing, wholesale, retail, import and export of goods and souvenirs; development, manufacturing and distribution of character merchandise; and internet and e-commerce businesses were added to the articles of incorporation. The existing objectives related to new drugs and diagnostics were not removed.

Reverse stock split and new delisting threshold effective July 1

Shareholders also approved a reverse stock split. Two shares with a par value of 500 won will be consolidated into one share with a par value of 1,000 won. The number of common shares will fall from 61,039,242 to 30,619,621.

The company said the purpose of the consolidation was “to establish an appropriate share price and enhance corporate value.” Trading in the shares will be suspended from July 22 through Aug. 11, and the new shares will be listed Aug. 12.

The decision to consolidate the shares coincides with a regulatory change. Beginning July 1, a share price of less than 1,000 won and a market capitalization of less than 20 billion won became grounds for delisting on the KOSDAQ. If the share price remains below 1,000 won for 30 consecutive trading days, the company is designated as a management issue. If it then fails to recover to at least 1,000 won for 45 consecutive trading days among the following 90 trading days, delisting procedures begin.

As of July 28, the company’s share price was 950 won and its market capitalization was 58 billion won. The market-capitalization threshold will rise to 30 billion won in January 2027.

The substance behind the rebranding is pet treats

The substance of the name change was decided in March. On March 25, the company disclosed that it would acquire a 100% stake in the U.S. corporation CHOOLIP INC. for $11.4 million, or approximately 17.2 billion won. The amount represents 48.56% of the company’s equity.

CHOOLIP makes squeezable nutritional treats for pets. The products were launched in 2023 under the brand “My Bef” by South Korean marketing company IBR. Revenue in 2025 was $3.779 million, or approximately 5.6 billion won.

The counterparty to the transaction is Wellnew & Co., a U.S. special-purpose corporation established in January 2026. On March 5, Wellnew & Co. received a 12 billion won third-party allotment of new shares from Aptamer Sciences, securing a 22.57% stake.

The business plan underlying the acquisition projected steep growth. CHOOLIP’s revenue was estimated to reach 147.4 billion won in 2030, a 26-fold increase in five years. The plan was built on the assumption that offline revenue would rise from 250 million won in 2025 to 137.7 billion won in 2030. No confirmed sales contracts or binding order backlog were presented alongside the plan.

Sunghyun Accounting Corporation, which conducted the external evaluation, stated, “The evaluation was conducted based on the business plan and underlying materials presented by the company, which were accepted without a separate review of its financial condition or management performance.”

Numbers left by the core business

Revenue in 2024 was 700 million won. Revenue from the early lung cancer diagnostic product “Aptodetect Lung” was 730,000 won.

Cumulative revenue for the first three quarters of 2025 rose to 1.7 billion won. Of that amount, 1.1 billion won came from the analytical business of International Scientific Standards (ISS), a preclinical analysis company acquired in August 2024 for approximately 2 billion won, while aptamer service revenue was 600 million won.

The company has no technology-export revenue. AST-201, a liver cancer drug candidate, entered a phase 1 clinical trial in the second half of 2024.

Companies listed through technology-based special listing programs receive a temporary exemption from certain revenue requirements. Aptamer Sciences entered the KOSDAQ in September 2020, and its exemption ended in 2024. Annual revenue below 3 billion won is grounds for designation as a management issue. The revenue requirement will increase in stages to 7.5 billion won in 2027 and 10 billion won in 2028.

Three rounds of financing and one change in ownership

In December 2024, the company completed a 20 billion won rights offering to shareholders. The stated purpose of the financing was to lower the ratio of losses from continuing operations before corporate income tax expenses and avoid designation as a management issue. The ratio was 87.9% in 2023.

Control of the company changed hands on Oct. 24, 2025. The largest shareholder changed from founder Han Dong-il and two others to Alticast and one other party. Following a share purchase agreement and a third-party allotment of new shares, the Alticast side held 13,416,840 shares, representing a 33.3% stake.

The IPO price was 25,000 won when the company was listed in September 2020. The conversion price of the first convertible bond (CB) issued in 2022 was 3,645 won, more than three times the current share price.

Once the reverse stock split schedule is complete, the company will resume trading Aug. 12 under the name CHOOLIP & SCIENCES. Aptamer drug and diagnostic businesses remain among the company’s stated corporate objectives.