HLB said on Wednesday that its U.S. affiliate, Verismo Therapeutics, secured exclusive global rights to a binder targeting CD19, a key target antigen in blood cancers, through a license agreement with the University of Pennsylvania. 

HLB Group has expanded its pipeline in the field of CAR-T therapeutics by becoming the largest shareholder of Verismo through investment by HLB and HLB Pharma in 2021. 

Verismo now has exclusive rights to the world's first KIR-CAR platform, which expresses a multi-chain receptor on T cells similar to the receptor structure of natural killer (NK) immune cells. 

The company is already conducting phase 1 clinical trials of SynKIR-110 for solid cancers such as ovarian, mesothelioma, and cholangiocarcinoma in the U.S. using this technology, and is developing subsequent pipelines for various solid cancers, autoimmune diseases and hematologic cancers such as lymphoma.  

Verismo plans to apply one of the two binders, DS191, to its hematologic cancer drug pipeline, SynKIR-310, while simultaneously pursuing out-licensing to other drug discovery companies in need of CD19 binders. Verismo plans to file an IND for SynKIR-310 utilizing the DS191 binder by the end of this year, while continuing research to identify new binders targeting other cancer antigens. 

"Binders have a significant impact on the efficacy and safety of CAR-T therapies, and with all therapies focused on one CD19 binder, Verismo's access to new CD19 binders will provide new treatment options in the immunotherapy space," said Dr. Laura A. Johnson, Verismo’s Chief Scientific Officer.

"We  will build strategic partnerships with companies that share our vision in developing CAR-T technology in Korea, and through these partnerships, we will grow domestic CAR-T technology to a global level,” said Dr. Bryan Kim, CEO of Verismo.