Genome & Company, an immunotherapy developer, and Debiopharm, a Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company, said that they would cooperate in developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADC)-based anticancer drugs.

The two companies plan to find out clinical development materials optimized for ADC technology through a combination clinical trial using several new antibody target candidates developed by Genome & Company and various ADC technologies possessed by Debiopharm.

Genome & Company will use its drug development platform, GNOCLE, to discover several antibodies against new tumor targets and apply them to Debiopharm's multilink technology, which accurately delivers the antibodies to the antigen, to develop the new ADC candidates.

According to the Korean company, ADC, which is emerging as a next-generation anticancer drug, is a technology that accurately delivers drugs bound to antibodies to antigens through an agent called "linker."

It stressed that while there are many global companies with the linker technology, only a few can research new immune checkpoint inhibitors that independently discover antibodies that match the technology.

"This research collaboration shows that the Genome & Company has a global level of research and development capability for novel, target-based oncology drugs aside from microbiome therapeutics." Genome & Company CEO Pae Ji-soo said. "We will try to provide novel treatments for cancer patients through active open innovation strategies for the optimal development of novel drugs in the future."

Debiopharm CEO Cédric Sager also said, "The collaboration between Genome & Company and Debiopharm is synergizing both our companies' technology assets and know-how to generate new ADC products."

The company aims to continually explore different paths to bring novel treatment options to patients with unmet medical needs, Sager added.