바이오스펙테이터

by Jongwon Jang

the ‘Projects of International Co-development’ hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy… ‘AbClick® Linker’ technology will be grafted on the ‘Double Antibody Technology’ of ‘iProgen Biotec

AbTis will team up with ‘iProgen Biotech’, a Canadian Biotech, to develop the next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). The linker platform, ‘AbClick', developed by AbTis, will be combined with the technology of double-antibody of ‘iProgen Biotech’ to develop new ADC capable of targeting the microenvironment of tumors.

AbTis announced on December 16th, 2019 that the company was appointed recently to be in charge of ‘Projects of International Co-development’ hosted by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, KIAT). The ‘Projects of International Co-development’ of KIAT was prepared for domestic enterprises to secure state-of-the-art technologies and to promote the expansion to overseas markets through the support of joint international research and development with overseas R&D institutions.

AbTis is a Bio-Venture founded by Professor Sang Jeon Chung of Sungkyunkwan University in 2016. The company holds the linker technology, 'AbClick®', which enables selective combination of cytotoxic anti-cancer drug with specified position of antibody without modifying the antibody.

Through the project of co-development, AbTis intends to develop ADC based on double-antibody targeting modulator of microenvironment of tumor as well as antigens specific to cancer cells. The ‘iProgen Biotech’ is a R&D oriented Bio-Venture located in Vancouver, Canada. The company holds a variety of antibody technologies including antibody delivery technology of enhanced cytopermeability. The support for the project will take in form of joint-funding (of the amount of approximately 2.1 billion KRW) by Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) and the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

According to AbTis, a number of ADCs currently developed in clinics based on antibodies targeting elements overexpressed in specified cancer cells exhibit low therapeutic efficacies frequently. Thus, they are terminated accordingly. The ADC to be developed through the joint project will target specific antigens overexpressed in cancer cells and elements of the tumor’s microenvironment residing in the periphery of cancer cells to maximize the therapeutic ratio. Besides, the anticancer agent, to be combined with antibodies position-specifically, will be carefully selected among drugs undergoing clinical verification to be exploited as payload.

AbTis intends for the completion of preclinical validity assessment including animal test during the period of 2 years of the project.

President Sang Jeon Chung of AbTis stated, “… the appointment of our company to be in charge of ‘Projects of International Co-development’ became the moment of global recognition of the ADC platform technology of AbTis…” “Key technologies relevant to ADC will also be sophisticated further together with the development of innovative new drugs to fulfill unmet needs for various cancers including solid cancer…”.

In the meantime, AbTis announced that the company invited Professor Junho Chung of Seoul National University to be the President of the Scientific Advisory Board for the company to expand its pipelines into varied disciplines through the platform technology. Professor Junho Chung of Seoul National University is a renowned scholar in the discipline of antibody engineering. He will join in the excavation of antibodies that are most appropriate for ADC and the development of innovative ADC therapeutics through joint research.