HK inno.N said Tuesday that its CAR-T cell therapy research project has been selected by the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF) as a national drug development support project.

CAR-T cell therapy is a treatment made by adding a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that can recognize specific antigens on cancer cells to a patient's immune cells, or T-cells so that they can destroy cancer cells more efficiently.

HK inno.N is developing a cellular therapy combining CAR-T cells with antibodies that inhibit the activity of the immune gateway factor “HLA-G” (a patient's cells are modified for treatment and then infused back into the patient to kill cancer cells). It conducts nonclinical trials for HLA-G-positive solid cancers and aims to start phase I clinical trials with the support of the KDDF new drug development project.

HLA-G is an immune gateway factor involved in the immune response in the body. It does not appear on normal cells except the placenta but is overexpressed on certain cancer cells, disrupting the immune system.

HK inno.N will develop a therapeutic product that kills tumor (cancer) cells while restoring the patient's immune response, improving accuracy and safety.

"We are focusing on the value of cell and gene therapy, which is a front-runner of advanced biopharmaceuticals, and are conducting in-house research, collaborative research, contract development and manufacturing (CDMO), and contract manufacturing (CMO)," said Song Geun-seok, vice president for R&D. "As we have been selected as a project to support the national new drug development project, we will strive to develop innovative therapies that contribute to the country and patients."