"South Korea is rapidly emerging as a global biotech powerhouse"

Orum Therapeutics debuted on the Korea Exchange (KOSDAQ) on February 14, 2025, raising ₩50 billion in South Korea's first biopharma IPO of the year. With a focus on targeted protein degraders for cancer treatment, CEO S J Lee outlines how Orum is advancing and positioning itself at the forefront of oncology innovation. Edited excerpts;

- Ayesha Siddiqui

How do you see this milestone positioning the company in the biotech landscape, and what are your immediate priorities post-IPO?

We believe Orum’s recent milestone reinforces our leadership in targeted protein degradation through our Dual-Precision Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD2) approach, which combines antibody precision with targeted protein degraders to address critical unmet needs in oncology and beyond. Post-IPO, we are advancing our pipeline, including ORM-1153 for hematologic cancers, while also actively developing new targeted protein degrader (TPD) payloads to expand the potential of our platform.

Orum is pioneering the development of TPD, which is an exciting area in cancer treatment. What unique challenges do you face in advancing this technology?