NOBO Medicine said its investigational anticancer agent, poseltinib, has been selected for clinical development support under the 2025 first-round funding program of Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF), a pan-ministerial national new drug R&D initiative.
The selection secures government funding for the next two years to support a phase 2 clinical trial of Poseltinib in patients with relapsed or refractory primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), a rare B-cell lymphoma with poor prognosis. However, the company did not unveil how much financial support it will receive through the program.
Despite the annual incidence of PCNSL rising by more than 8.8 percent in Korea, treatment options remain limited, especially after relapse or resistance. The disease presents a significant unmet medical need due to the blood-brain barrier’s restrictive nature, which hampers effective drug delivery to the central nervous system (CNS).
Poseltinib is a novel small molecule designed to selectively inhibit multiple tyrosine kinases, including Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) and TEC. Its differentiated mechanism includes dual TEC inhibition to prevent alternative BTK signaling pathways, high CNS penetration, and a favorable safety profile.
The company has already confirmed the safety and efficacy of poseltinib in investigator-initiated trials. Building on these results, it received regulatory approval for a phase 2 clinical trial from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in September 2024.
The trial is currently being conducted across multiple leading institutions in Korea. In February 2025, poseltinib was also designated as an orphan drug advancing the company’s regulatory and commercialization strategy.
The KDDF program, launched in 2021, is a major national R&D initiative aimed at boosting the global competitiveness of Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. It provides full-cycle support for new drug development projects over a 10-year period, with goals of strengthening the R&D ecosystem, achieving global commercial success, and generating public health outcomes.