HK inno.N and GC Cell signed a joint research and development contract for creating new cell therapies last Thursday.

Under this contract, the two companies plan to develop immuno-anticancer cell therapies for solid cancer using the HLA-G target-based platform. HK inno.N will develop CAR-T cell therapy that combines fragments of HLA-G target antibodies, and GC Cell will develop CAR-NK cell therapy that combines fragments of the same antibody.

Through this collaboration, the companies plan to expand the development of next-generation cell therapies based on their core technologies and further strengthen their technological competitiveness.

HK inno.N previously conducted exploratory studies applying fragments of HLA-G target antibodies to cell therapy and obtained favorable results from early CAR-T studies evaluating efficacy at the cell level. The company said it would continue to increase the differentiated immune anti-cancer cell therapy pipeline through convergence research between internal and external technologies in the future.

GC Cell plans to expand the existing solid cancer pipeline area by combining NK cell therapy technology and HLA-G target antibodies, which completed technology transfers with Artiva and MSD in the United States.

Additionally, the two companies plan to check the applicability and efficacy of CAR-NK sequentially.

HLA-G is an immune gateway factor involved in the immune response in the human body. It is one of the main culprits destroying the immune system when expressed excessively in cancer cells. Accordingly, HLA-G is attracting attention as an alternative target for tumors that do not respond to existing immuno-cancer drugs.

"We have many pipelines, such as CAR-T, CAR-NK cell therapy, and NK cells, through our research and joint research with overseas companies. We expect to secure a cell therapy pipeline with GC cells quickly," said Won Sung-yong, HK inno.N’s Bio Research Center Director.

Head of GC Cell's Cell Therapy Research Institute Min Bo-kyung said, “Through open innovation, we look forward to developing a treatment with high efficacy and safety in solid cancer, which is unexplored in the field of cell therapy.”