HLB said that its subsidiary, Elevar Therapeutics, has received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its global phase 1b and 2 clinical trials to develop a tertiary treatment for colorectal cancer.

The treatment consists of a combination between rivoceranib, an immunotherapy agent, and Lonsurf, a cytotoxic anticancer drug.

"Lonsurf directly acts on cancer cells to induce death, while rivoceranib inhibits angiogenesis required for tumor proliferation," the anticancer drug developer said. "The treatment can normalize the abnormal cancer vessel structure and activates immune cells to eliminate cancer cells."

Both treatments are oral products, the company added.

The company will confirm the combination treatment's safety and tolerability through the phase 1 clinical trial while finding therapeutic effects and the appropriate dosage without side effects in phase 2 clinical trials.

Major medical institutions, including Severance Hospital, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, and Asan Medical Center, will carry out the trial. The U.S. institutions taking part in the trial include the Florida Cancer Specialists, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University School of Medicine.

"As we have received trial approval in Korea, we expect that patient recruitment will gain the momentum," a company official said. "We will do our best to give hope to patients with end-stage colorectal cancer through rapid clinical progress through global collaboration."