Kolon Life Science said Wednesday that  its patent on alleviating or treating pain for neuropathic pain gene therapy, KLS-2031, and a patent on a recombinant vaccinia virus for anti-cancer gene therapy, KLS-3021, won registration in India.

KLS-2031 features a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) and three therapeutic genes that may have complementary and synergistic effects. The three genes are glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), IL-10, and Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). GAD blocks excessive pain signaling and regulates inflammation, IL-10 is a type of cytokine, a signal transmitter, that helps reduce inflammation, and GDNF is a neurotrophic factor that protects nerve cells.

The combination of the three genes has pain relief and therapeutic effects compared to a single gene in rAAV, Kolon Life Science said.

KLS-3021 is a vaccinia virus-based oncolytic virus with three genes: sPD-1, PH-20, and IL-12. The sPD-1 gene maintains the activity of immune cells, while PH-20 helps the spread of KLS-3021. The IL-12 gene activates immune cells that attack cancer cells, such as T cells and Natural killer (NK) cells.

Kolon Life Science said that the combination of these genes maximizes the ability of immune cells to control cancer and the anti-cancer effect, and KLS-3021’s patent was also registered in Canada and Singapore in October last year.

According to the Korea Biomedicine Industry Association, the overall pharmaceutical market in India is valued at $22.6 billion, of which the biopharmaceutical market is valued at $1.3 billion. The biopharmaceutical market and biosimilar industry is also growing at an average annual rate of 22 percent and is expected to reach $12 billion by 2025.

"India is a country with the world's largest population and a rapidly growing local biopharmaceutical market, and we believe that these back-to-back patents will help us develop our local business for KLS-2031 and KLS-3021," said Kim Sun-jin, CEO of Kolon Life Science.