Kolmar Holdings said it would partner with the U.S. contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Arranta Bio to develop KBL382, a candidate substance for treating inflammatory bowel disease.

Under the accord, the two companies will cooperate on overall matters to develop and manufacture drugs for clinical trials, including the KBL382 strain cell line and raw materials for pharmaceuticals and finished drugs.

Their initial goal is to apply for the global phase 1 clinical trial of an investigational new drug (IND) by the second half of next year.

“The signing of this contract has great significance in that the development of pharmaceuticals using microbiome materials, one of the main pipelines of our Biome Research Institute, has become visible,” a company official said. “By collaborating with a global CDMO, we will accelerate the clinical development of our microbiome pipelines.”

KBL382 strain is a microbiome drug candidate that Kolmar Korea Holdings received from Kobiolabs through a technology transfer in December last year.

In the efficacy test of an inflammatory bowel disease animal model, the company confirmed the superior effect compared to existing drugs.

The company also stressed that as a substance derived from human resident bacteria, the strain has high safety and low side effects even when taken long.