aibioApimeds Pharmaceuticals appoints Sungjoon Chae co-chief executive
Tickers APUS
Apimeds named Sungjoon Chae Co-Chief Executive Officer on May 4, 2026 on a stockholder's nomination. The Form 8-K, dated May 5, 2026, describes his background as an architect and urban designer.
Key facts
- Company
- Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. (AMEX: APUS)
- News type
- Company Updates
- Primary source
- Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. 8-K (2026-05-05)
Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. said in a Form 8-K dated May 5, 2026 that on May 4, 2026 its board of directors appointed Sungjoon Chae to serve as Co-Chief Executive Officer, effective that day. The board made the appointment pursuant to a nomination by a stockholder of the company. The filing reports the change under Item 5.02, which covers departures and appointments of directors and certain officers. Dr. Vin Menon, Chief Executive Officer, signed the report.
Who Chae is
According to the filing, Chae is an architect and urban designer who specializes in large-scale real estate development and urban regeneration. He obtained a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University in 2013. He has worked on mixed-use and urban-scale projects across South Korea and the United States, with particular expertise in urban revitalization, site planning and development-driven design.
The filing says he has been involved in projects that require coordination among developers, investors, public agencies and design teams. It says he has led multidisciplinary teams in complex redevelopment contexts and delivered solutions that balance design quality, operational performance and long-term asset value.
Other disclosures
The filing says there are no arrangements or understandings between Chae and any other person under which he was selected as an officer, other than the nomination. It says there are no family relationships between Chae and the company's officers and directors. It also says there are no related party transactions between the company and Chae that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
The company said the material terms of Chae's compensation have not been determined and will be disclosed once finalized.
Background and finances
On December 1, 2025, the company entered into and closed an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Apimeds Merger Sub, Inc., MindWave Innovations Inc., Lokahi Therapeutics, Inc. and Erik Emerson, who acted as representative for the Bio Business. Merger Sub merged into MindWave, which survived as a direct wholly owned subsidiary of the company. The annual report says the holders of MindWave common stock were to receive preferred stock and a common stock allocation capped at 0% of the common shares outstanding under the merger agreement, structured so that they would hold, on an as-converted and fully diluted basis, 90.9% of the company's equity capital as of the closing.
Stockholders holding approximately 51% of the common stock approved by written consent on December 1, 2025 the conversion of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, the conversion of convertible notes issued under a securities purchase agreement with institutional investors, a 1-for-10 reverse split with a change in par value from $0.01 to $0.001, an increase in the 2024 Equity Incentive Plan to 2,096,679 shares, and the 2025 Equity Incentive Plan. The annual report says the company filed and mailed an information statement under Rule 14c-2 and that these actions would not take effect until at least 20 calendar days after mailing.
The annual report said the merger and related conversions would cause a change in control, and that the company would need to submit a new listing application to NYSE American before carrying out the preferred stock and notes conversions.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, the company reported research and development expense of $1.6 million and a net loss of $6.0 million, compared with a net loss of $1.4 million for 2024. Cash from operations was negative $8.9 million in 2025 and negative $733,526 in 2024.
What the biography leaves out
Nothing in the filing's biography points to drug development or public company management. Mr. Chae's listed experience is architecture, urban design and real estate, and the filing gives no pharmaceutical credentials for a company whose stated research spending was $1.6 million in 2025. He was named on a stockholder's nomination, and the filing does not say why the board needed a second chief executive. His pay has not been set. The company lost $6.0 million in 2025 and used $8.9 million of cash in operations. The annual report said the preferred stock and note conversions would not be carried out until NYSE American approved the listing application, and the filing does not say whether that approval has come.