바이오스펙테이터

바이오스펙테이터 Jongwon Jang 기자

WoojungBio has announced that the company has changed its name, and is embarking on a new project this year, the first anniversary of its stock market listing in South Korea, along with carrying forwa

WoojungBio has started drug development project in earnest. Utilizing their accumulated platform technologies and know-how, the company is transforming into a drug development company specialized in the early stage of drug development. Their first project under the new initiative is to develop next-generation immune checkpoint inhibitors.

The ‘Dongtan Biocluster’ construction project, one of WoojungBio’s main projects, will also move forward this year. Through providing drug development infrastructure, such as state-of-the-art laboratory animal facilities, the company will help the drug development of domestic pharmaceutics and bio ventures. WoojungBio plans to make a leap forward based on the growth momentum of their two initiatives, the ‘Dongtan Biocluster’, and drug development.

In a recent interview with Biospectator, Cheon, Byungnyeon, President of WoojungBio, said, “We are now initiating our long-cherished dream of a drug development business in earnest. Our business will focus on the early stage of drug development, by using our accumulated experimental technology and screening platform for new drugs.” The company changed its name to WoojungBio (previously WoojungBSC), and announced their new start this April, the first anniversary of their stock market listing in South Korea.

Their first project to make a leap forward is drug development. One of the company’s strengths is that it has various platform technologies of preclinical (non-clinical) research, which are able to increase the success rate of clinical trials. Its remarkable technology includes ‘Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse model; technology to determine the efficacy of various anticancer drugs by injecting into immunodeficient mice engrafted with cancerous tissues obtained from cancer patients’, ‘Zebrafish model; model used to assess the efficacy, toxicity and safety of drug candidates’, ‘human liver tissue’, ‘humanized mouse’, and ‘antibody screening and production technology’. President Cheon said, “We possess both a one-stop and a no-stop system for the entire drug development process, from substance screening to preclinical trials. It is expected that by using PDX or other technologies, the success rate of clinical trials may be further increased.”

Their first goal is to develop immune checkpoint inhibitors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors represent a novel class of immunotherapy that is gaining the most attention for cancer therapy, whose mechanism works by stimulating the patient’s immune system to fight tumor. WoojungBio identified 4 types of antibodies targeting CTLA-4, PD-L1, LAG-3, and TIM3, through their own antibody identification technique, and they are currently in the preclinical stage. BMS’s Yervoy and Roche’s Tecentriq targeting for CTLA-4 and PD-L1 have already been launched in the market. Drugs targeting LAG-3 and TIM3 are currently under the early stage of drug development. WoojungBio said “Our goal is to start preclinical trials this year, after completing in vivo and in vitro tests.”

In addition, the company is also conducting breast cancer related research. In particular, WoojungBio published a paper in The Journal of the Japanese Breast Cancer Society, which showed that COP1 protein manages cell cycle and cell death by affecting p53 function of breast cancer cell line.

Known as a tumor suppressor, P53 protein checks DNA damage during the cell cycle, and determines the pathway of cell death. It is widely believed that inappropriate control of p53 protein can increase the risk of transforming into a cancer cell. The paper suggests a new plausible target for cancer therapy, by elucidating the relationship between COP1 and p53. The company added “We will conduct further study to decide whether to proceed to the drug development stage or not”.

◇ South Korea’s first private biocluster, ‘Woojung Biocluster’, will materialize this year

The nation’s first private biocluster, ‘WoojungBiocluster’, will be materialized this year. Woojung Biocluster, planned to be located in Dongtan, Gyeonggi-do, will be prepared as a complex for active open-innovation. Along with basic infrastructure, including cutting edge laboratory animal facilities and the ‘Precision Medicine Support Center’, it is expected to build restricted areas that will be assigned to individual groups for novel substance research, and shared areas for collaborative research. In addition, facilities for ventures and start-up companies will also be constructed.

President Cheon said, “WoojungBiocluster will be set up as a complex for preclinical stage research, so as to help the research efforts of various companies, based on a solid system and platform. We wish to build a so-called new ecosystem, where companies will gather and collaborate with each other”. He explained that Dongtan provides a great location for building a biocluster, considering that there are already three staple components in or nearby Dongtan. These are major domestic pharmaceutical research centers (Hanmi Pharmaceuticals and Yuhan), universities and research institutes (Ajou University and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital), and convenient transportation (SRT).

In addition to helping drug development companies, Woojung Bio is also planning to pursue various open-innovation strategies, including co-investment and co-development through strategic alliance within the WoojungBiocluster. The President of WoojungBio stressed that “we will soon propose a blueprint of the WoojungBiocluster that we would like to realize. We hope to contribute to the growth of South Korea’s biopharmaceutical industry, by providing the best possible environment for drug development.”