Biois Corp. said it has registered a patent on aptamers binding to tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and their therapeutic uses. TNF is a protein that causes inflammation.

Aptamers binding to TNF-alpha raises specificity for TNF-alpha, allowing the company to develop a new TNF-alpha inhibitor with a high chance of drug utilization.

With the patent, Biois will be able to maximize the advantage of conventional antibody drugs’ targeting disease-causing substances, the company said. Also, the company said it could solve the problem of drug tolerance and high production cost in conventional medicines.

The TNF-alpha inhibitor is an autoimmune disease treatment that inhibits the function of TNF-alpha. To date, antibody medicines such as Pfizer’s Enbrel, Janssen’s Remicade, and Abbvie’s Humira have been leading the global TNF-alpha inhibitor market worth 60 trillion won ($53.5 billion).

Biois CEO Kim Sung-chun said the company plans to use the new patent to develop and commercialize a TNF-alpha inhibitor through joint research with Hong Kong-based Eagle Biotechnology.

“We will continue our research to utilize TNF-alpha binding aptamers to treat various diseases caused by TNF-alpha,” Kim said.