aibioApimeds Pharmaceuticals takes assignment of Apitox rights
Tickers APUS
Under an agreement dated August 19, 2026, FreeT Inc. assigned to Apimeds Pharmaceuticals a set of Apitox rights, including 100% of the Korean medicine clinic market and a 25% royalty entitlement on U.S. proceeds.
Key facts
- Company
- Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. (AMEX: APUS)
- News type
- Company Updates
- Primary source
- Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. 8-K (2026-08-21)
Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. said in a Form 8-K that on August 19, 2026 it entered into an Assignment and Transfer Agreement of Certain Apitox Rights with FreeT Inc., a company organized under the laws of the Republic of Korea. Under the agreement, FreeT irrevocably assigned, transferred, conveyed and delivered to the company all of its right, title and interest in the specified Apitox-related rights. Dr. Vin Menon, Chief Executive Officer, signed the report.
The assigned rights
The rights were originally acquired by CNP Roen Co., Ltd. under an Apitox Rights Transfer Agreement dated June 16, 2015. CNP Roen later changed its name to Inscobee Co., Ltd., which is now known as FreeT Inc. The assigned rights include 100% of the rights relating to the Apitox market for Korean medicine clinics in the Republic of Korea. They also include a 25% royalty entitlement on the economic proceeds from the development, licensing, sale or other commercialization of Apitox in the United States, and a 25% revenue participation right on the net proceeds from overseas rights agreements.
The package also gives the company quarterly information on the clinical program and on overseas rights transactions, plus certain data and technology benefits and other ancillary contractual rights.
The rights are limited to what FreeT actually held on the effective date, and only to the extent they are legally assignable. The agreement excludes any global rights FreeT did not hold, any underlying intellectual property ownership in Apitox, and any indication-specific, territorial, manufacturing, regulatory or commercialization rights that were not granted to FreeT. The company said the assigned rights are free and clear of claims, encumbrances or obligations from prior side letter arrangements, including those involving Lokahi Therapeutics Inc.
The company assumed only obligations that arise after the effective date and relate directly to lawful exercise of the rights. It did not assume any payment obligation, breach, liability, debt or claim of FreeT that arose before the effective date under the 2015 agreement.
Background and finances
FreeT said it intends to support the continued development, indication expansion and global commercialization of Apitox through the company. It said it will use commercially reasonable efforts to facilitate future transactions under which additional Apitox rights for territories outside the United States may be granted to the company, subject to separate definitive agreements. The agreement is governed by the laws of the Republic of Korea, with exclusive jurisdiction in the Seoul Central District Court.
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.
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. The XBRL data also show year-end 2025 cash and cash equivalents of $1.6 million and short-term investments of $2.0 million, as tagged in a 10-Q filed on August 14, 2026. Cash and cash equivalents were $278,371 at June 30, 2026, according to that same 10-Q.
What the filing does not settle
The filing states no price, no payment and no share issuance for the assignment, and it does not say what Apitox's clinical status is. The company holds a royalty and revenue share, not the underlying intellectual property, and only to the extent the rights are legally assignable. Any rights outside Korea and the United States depend on future agreements that FreeT has only promised to make commercially reasonable efforts toward. Cash and cash equivalents were $278,371 at June 30, 2026.