Tego Science, a company specializing in cell therapy, said Monday that it has won the U.S. patent for a chemokine-based component that improves skin.

The company plans to conduct trials to obtain indications for treating specific skin injuries with the drug candidate that uses chemokine, an active ingredient, by increasing the protein involved in skin regeneration and elasticity. Chemokines are signaling proteins that regulate the immune response and promote wound closure and healing.

Tego Science’s three-dimensional cultured skin model, Neoderm, has been used to mimic morphological and physiological human skin to check the safety and efficacy of the chemokine-based substance.

The cell therapy developer uses cosmetic ingredients developed by its subsidiary, Cutigen Laboratories, which focuses on cosmetics providing wound-healing effects with skincare. The company developed new drugs for skin wounds with the substance.

The company also won a Korean patent in 2017 for the in vivo transfer technology stem cells received from the Severance Hospital.

“Our chemokine-based substance has won global recognition for skin improvement and regeneration by increasing skin elasticity and whitening skin,” a company official said. “We will continue to develop next-generation therapies by focusing on follow-up studies using chemokine-based technologies.”

The company has not yet specified the targeted indications for treating particular skin disease. However, it plans to conduct further studies after selecting specific skin wounds to check the efficacy of the chemokine candidate, the official added.

The global market of functional cosmetics for skin regeneration was 5.34 trillion won ($4.79 billion) in 2019, accounting for 30 percent of the total cosmetic market, while the wound care drug market totals nearly 20 trillion won, Tego Science said.