AbClon, a Kosdaq-listed biotech firm, said it registered its technology patent related to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy in the U.S. and Canada, respectively.

In the U.S., AbClon registered the patent on its switchable CAR-T platform technology, applicable in AT501 for ovarian cancer.

In Canada, the registered patent involves CAR-T therapy technology using the h1218 antibody of AT101, the company’s key pipeline, for blood cancer.

Earlier, AbClon’s patent on the h1218 antibody technology was also registered in Korea and Japan.

While existing CAR-T therapies such as Novartis’ Kymriah and Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta use the antibody called FMC63 derived from mice, AbClon’s CAR-T therapy uses the h1218 antibody derived from humans.

The company aims to strengthen intellectual property on AT101 worldwide by registering patents in more countries.

AbClon’s AT101, the CAR-T therapy with the new antibody, is being tested in a local phase 1 trial at the Asan Medical Center under the support of the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF).

AbClon’s patent on a switchable CAR-T platform, called zCAR-T, has been registered in the U.S., Korea, and Japan. The company is seeking to win the patent in Europe, too.

The zCAR-T platform, used in AT501 targeting ovarian cancer, could be the key to overcoming the limitations of existing CAR-T therapies in solid cancer, AbClon said.