YiPSCELL-TOOGEN-Xcell Therapeutics-ORGANOID SCIENCES to develop 'Korean version of Kymriah' 

A group of domestic bio companies have joined forces to develop a treatment comparable to Kymriah, which has been dubbed a "miracle anti-cancer drug" because it can be cured with a single dose.

YiPCELL (CEO Ji-Hyun Joo), Tulgene (CEO Youngho Kim, Byung-Hwa Lee), Xcell Therapeutics (CEO Lee Yi-Il), and Organoid Sciences (CEO Jong-Man Yoo) announced today that they have signed a strategic partnership agreement at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Omnibus Park to develop a Korean version of Kymriah.

Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT) is an autologous, personalized therapy in which therapeutic drugs are produced based on a patient's own immune cells. While it shows superior effectiveness compared to existing therapies, it is difficult to mass produce and expensive to manufacture. This means that it is possible to generate high profits from small-scale production by securing development and manufacturing technology.

Kymriah is an anti-cancer drug administered to patients with terminal blood cancer who have no alternative treatment, and is a personalized treatment using the patient's own immune cells. It is a groundbreaking new drug that signaled the arrival of the era of treating precisely the desired target with the desired cells from existing anti-cancer drugs.

According to data from Evaluate, a global pharmaceutical industry analyst firm, the global cell and gene therapy market size was analyzed to be approximately USD 7.47 billion (KRW 9.54 trillion) as of 2021. In the future, it is expected to grow at an average annual rate of about 49.1%, reaching about $55.5 billion (KRW 6.738 trillion) by 2026.

The companies plan to build a world-class "next-generation cell and gene therapy development platform" through the division of labor based on this MOU. Ipsel will secure clinical-grade induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), Tulgen will develop customized gene editing technology, Xcell Therapeutics will develop differentiation/proliferation chemically defined media, and Organoid Science will develop an organoid-based cell therapy efficacy evaluation platform.

The reason behind the collaboration between the four companies is the consensus that shared growth through convergence research is the best way to overcome the increasingly difficult bio investment environment against the recent intense global R&D competition.

At the signing ceremony, Mr. Joo Ju-hyun, CEO of Ipsel, said, "Recent new technologies are often convergence technologies rather than single technologies. I think this MOU has great significance as a 'cooperative challenge' for startup companies to create new technologies unique to Korea."

Following the MOU ceremony, the first OXYGEN seminar was held at Ipsell Square in Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Omnibus Park, with more than 60 R&D personnel from the four companies in attendance. OXYGEN is named after the first letter of each company's English initials.

During the seminar, Dr. Nam Yoo-Jun, head of the R&D center at Ipsel, Dr. Lee Jae-Young, head of the R&D center at Tulgene, Dr. Lee Ju-Yeon, head of the R&D center at Xcell Therapeutics, and Dr. Lee Kyung-Jin, head of the R&D center at Organoid Science, introduced the latest technologies that each company has. Under the agreement, the companies will share technology and information in the future, as well as conduct human resource exchanges to foster specialized personnel.

"We look forward to setting a new milestone for K-bio through the development of innovative next-generation cell and gene therapies that surpass Kymria, Yescata, and others with the power of domestic technology by fusing our respective technologies and joining forces," said representatives of each company at the business agreement ceremony.

Meanwhile, YiPSCELL is Korea's first startup based on induced pluripotent stem cell technology and produces normal human and patient-derived stem cell lines using next-generation stem cell technology called 'induced pluripotent stem cells'. It is a biotechnology company that provides a disease modeling platform service that can replace animal testing and is building a pipeline of various diagnostics and therapeutics, including developing stem cell-based therapeutics.

ToolGen was founded by Dr. Jinsoo Kim in 1999 and operated mainly in research gene editing products and services, and laid the foundation for its current business by developing ZFN gene editing, TALEN gene editing, and then CRISPR gene editing in 2012 through continuous research and development. Currently, Toolgen is engaged in patent monetization business based on the original CRISPR gene editing patent and research and development of therapeutic, seed and animal-related products using gene editing technology.

Xcell Therapeutics is a company that developed the world's first GMP-grade Serum-Free Chemically Defined Media for hMSCs, and has been recognized for its media technology both domestically and internationally. In particular, it owns and operates a GMP-grade production plant in Yongin with an annual production capacity of 100,000 liters. In addition to being selected as a bio-innovative company in recognition of its excellent technology (20') and winning the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award, last year, Excelceraphutics obtained the NewExcellent Product certification, the most prestigious certificate issued by the Korean government.

ORGANOIDSCIENCES was founded in 2018 as Korea's first drug development innovation company specializing in organoids to develop treatments for intractable diseases using organoids, the most advanced platform for reproducing human organs by culturing stem cells in three dimensions. With creative thinking and endless challenges to realize human health using new sciences as its core philosophy, the company develops organoid-based regenerative therapeutics and efficacy evaluation platforms certified by advanced technology under the slogan 'Experience The New Sciences'.

Source : Biotimes (http://www.biotimes.co.kr)