Samyang Biopharmaceuticals' U.S. subsidiary, Samyang Biopharm USA, is pushing to develop its cancer immunotherapy drug candidate, SYB-010, through global open innovation.

Samyang Biopharm USA recently signed an agreement with the Spanish National Research Council, the largest public research institution in Spain, to verify how the company's new immunotherapy candidate SYB-010 works on cancer patients. 

The research team expects SYB-010 to bind to MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence-A (MIC-A) and MIC-B isolated from the surface of cancer cells and activate natural killer (NK) cells and to MIC-A and MIC-B contained in exosomes released by cancer cells.

MIC-A and -B on the surface of cancer cells act as indicators for NK cells, one of the human body's immune cells, to recognize cancer. When SYB-010 blocks the interfering substances, NK cells recognize cancer more accurately and attack the tumor cells. NK cells are immune cells that destroy abnormal cells such as infected or cancer cells.

"SYB-010 has a potential to be developed as a new cancer immunotherapy, and co-development with the Spanish National Research Council, which has extensive clinical trial experience, will be a good opportunity to verify SYB-010," Samyang Biopharm USA CEO Lee Hyun-jung said.

Drs. Mar Vales-Gomez and Hugh Reyburn, leaders of the Department of Immunology and Oncology at the Spanish National Research Council, said, "This is an important study that will help improve the overall understanding of cell receptors and ligands that bind, and we hope SYB-010 could be developed as a new immunotherapy drug through the joint research."

Sean McKenna, vice president of research at Samyang Biopharm USA, said that the Spanish National Research Council has various experiences in analyzing the immunomodulatory effects of antibodies, and the research team plans to develop an effective and safe immunotherapy drug through the study.

In addition to collaborating with the Spanish research team, Samyang Biopharm USA made a three-year research deal with Dr. Lee Hyun-sung of Baylor College of Medicine, Texas. The company is studying the relation between soluble MHC class I chain-related protein (sMIC) expression and patients who do not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Samyang Biopharm USA will try to find how to use sMIC to identify patients who do not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors and find how SYB-010 could overcome the limitations.

"SYB-010 already has the potential as an immuno-oncology agent by reducing tumor growth and showing a clear immunomodulatory effect in a preclinical model," Dr. Lee said. "We expect the joint study to develop new immunotherapy drugs and help cancer patients around the world."

Samyang Biopharm USA is located in Kendall Square, Boston, the center of the global bio industry. The company aims to develop novel anticancer drugs and treatments for rare diseases. It plans to speed up the development by conducting global clinical trials of new anticancer drug candidates.