Xcell Therapeutics, Enzynomics eye KOSDAQ with unique technology 

Filing for preliminary examination, aims to list on KOSDAQ this year

Global challenge with media and protein enzymes needed for cell therapy drugs

Xcell Therapeutics develops the world's first serum-free chemically defined medium

 Enzynomics, a global-level protein enzyme developer

Unique and rare technologies in the spotlight

The listing rush of promising bio companies continues in the second half of this year. While trillion-dollar IPO companies such as HK InnoEn and Bionote are in the spotlight, bio-venture companies that have reached the global level with unique technologies are also receiving high interest from investors.

According to the investment industry (IB) on the 27th, media company Excelsior Pharmaceuticals and protein enzyme specialist Enzynomics are set to list on KOSDAQ. The companies submitted preliminary listing applications to the Korean exchange in April and May, respectively. Although the exchange's preliminary listing review process has been delayed due to a spate of IPOs, the companies' chances of listing are good.

Most of the companies that have recently planned IPOs are anti-cancer drugs, drug development, and diagnostic companies, but Excelerapharmaceuticals and Enzynomics are attracting attention as scarce source technologies that are essential for new drug development.

Xcell Therapeutics tackles 35 trillion media market with world's first technology

Xcell Therapeutics is a company that develops and produces media. Media, also known as cell rice, is an essential substance for cellular therapeutics that boasts high marketability as a next-generation treatment. The company has developed the world's first serum-free chemical composition medium, CellCor, which is considered to be the next-generation medium.

An official from Xcell Therapeutics said, "Chemical composition medium has been developed only by Ajinomoto in Japan in the world besides Xcell Therapeutics." "As cell therapies are gaining prominence, bio companies are looking for chemical media to develop excellent therapeutics. The global medium market, which was only KRW 5 trillion in 2018, is expected to grow rapidly to KRW 35 trillion by 2028."

Domestic companies are also responding. Xcell Therapeutics signed an agreement with Toolgen, a global gene scissors technology company, to develop customized culture media to improve the efficiency of the gene editing process for cell therapy development. Toolgen plans to increase the competitiveness of its cell therapy pipeline by securing an optimized gene editing process. Xcell Therapeutics' technology will also be used in the growing cultured meat market. As cultured meat is an artificial meat developed by cultivating animal cells, a large amount of cells are required. DAESANG (001680), an integrated food company, has partnered with Xcell Therapeutics to secure a competitive cultured meat medium.

Especially in the case of media required for cell therapy and gene therapy, there is no company that has preempted the market, so Xcell Therapeutics can preempt the market. In particular, Selker has demonstrated superior cell proliferation and a much shorter proliferation time compared to conventional serum-free media. The shorter the proliferation time, the lower the research costs, which is a major advantage for cell therapy companies, according to the company.

Xcell Therapeutics currently has distributor agreements in eight major countries, including Europe and Japan, allowing it to enter 62 countries. For global market penetration and mass production, the company operates a GMP-level cell culture medium production facility with an annual capacity of 100,000 liters and has secured a site for a second factory in Osong Advanced Medical Complex in Chungcheongbuk-do.

출처 : https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=03899926629118784&mediaCodeNo=257