Samjin Pharmaceutical and APITBIO collaborate on ADC development

Samjin Pharmaceutical has signed a joint research agreement with APITBIO, a company specializing in antibody drug development, to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

Under the agreement, Samjin Pharmaceutical will develop ADCs using its innovative mechanism of linker-payload (LP) conjugates, while APITBIO will develop antibodies targeting proteins overexpressed in certain intractable solid cancers, Samjin Pharm said.

The agreement is part of the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) signed in September between Samjin Pharmaceutical and APTBIO for developing ADCs. The two companies plan to build a comprehensive partnership to optimize ADC candidates and maximize the potential for further development and commercialization of the secured ADCs.

By combining the innovative mechanism antibodies of APITBIO, which has excellent capabilities in antibody development, with new mechanism payloads developed through Samjin Pharmaceutical's long-standing drug development capabilities, we plan to develop an innovative new concept ADC that is differentiated from existing ADCs,” said Lee Soo-min, head of the Samjin Pharmaceutical Research Center.

APITBIO is developing monoclonal antibodies for anticancer and chronic hepatitis B treatment, CD3 T-cell engager bispecific antibodies, and ADC therapeutics based on its human synthetic antibody (Fab) library and monoclonal antibody discovery and bispecific antibody production technology, as well as blood circulating tumor cell (CTC) isolation and pancreatic and biliary cancer diagnostic kits.