Celltrion said it has signed a joint research agreement with Cyron Therapeutics, a Korean company specializing in antibody discovery and development, for the development of cancer drugs based on multi-antibodies.

Under the accord, Celltrion will provide target antibody clones to Cyron, and Cyron will use its CD3 target T-cell Engager (TCE) platform to conduct joint research on developing multi-antibody drugs.

TCE multi-antibodies are therapeutic agents that effectively attack cancer cells through T-cells, inducing excellent anticancer effects, and have especially proven effective in blood cancer.

The two companies plan to jointly develop multi-antibody therapies targeting blood cancers and solid tumors, considering the high market potential and unmet medical needs.

Under the mutual licensing option clause, if Celltrion uses the multi-antibodies discovered in the joint research, it will pay a technology fee to Cyron and obtain exclusive rights with the contract value reaching up to 1.1 trillion won ($838 million), including up to 10.5 billion won for development milestones and up to 320 billion won for post-commercialization sales milestones per program.

With this contract, Celltrion plans to secure new future pipelines and strengthen its competitiveness in the oncology field.

Notably, by adopting a two-track strategy that combines the development of proprietary cancer drugs and the licensing of external products, the company aims to rapidly expand its pipeline and enhance its overall product portfolio, including adding cancer drugs to its existing antibody therapeutics.

“To leap forward as a true multinational pharmaceutical company beyond biosimilars, Celltrion is actively engaged in discovering new drug candidates,” a company official said. “We will put all our efforts into new drug development by cooperating with promising biotechs, based on our own antibody development platform technology and pharmaceutical development capabilities.”