GC Cell aims to go global with Immuncell-LC backed by long-term data

GC Cell said it recently announced its long-term results from a nine-year follow-up of its phase 3 clinical trial of immunotherapy treatment Immuncell-LC for hepatocellular carcinoma patients, which was presented during the ASCO GI 2025 Symposium, held in San Francisco from Jan. 23-25.

Against this backdrop, the company held a media seminar in Seoul on Wednesday to demonstrate Immuncell-LC’s significant improvements in recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival rates.

The study, which followed 230 patients for approximately 9.6 years after curative liver cancer treatment, revealed that patients treated with Immuncell-LC achieved a median RFS of 44 months compared to 30 months in the control group.

Notably, the nine-year RFS rate was 25.4 percent in the treatment group versus 16.1 percent in the control group.

"Despite improving five-year survival rates, liver cancer still has a 70% recurrence rate within five years," said Professor Lee Yun-bin from the Department of Gastroenterology at Seoul National University Hospital during the media session. "Immuncell-LC is currently the first and only available adjuvant therapy that can be used in clinical settings to address this challenge."

The data showed that patients treated with Immuncell-LC had a 28 percent lower risk of recurrence or death and a 51 percent reduction in liver cancer-specific mortality.

However, while overall survival rates at nine years showed a positive trend – 64 percent vs. 56.3 percent in the control group, the difference did not reach statistical significance.

Preliminary analysis of the data also revealed a statistically significant increase in CD8+ memory T-cell ratios in patients' peripheral blood after Immuncell-LC treatment, suggesting enhanced immune persistence and potentially sustained anti-cancer immune responses.

Backed by such findings, GC Cell stressed that it is actively pursuing both Korean and international expansion.

“We plan to apply for national health insurance coverage in Korea this year, with the goal of review by the Cancer Disease Review Committee of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service next year,” GC Cell's Oncology Business Unit Head Kim Seung-hwan said.

Globally, the company has already entered the Indonesian market and is pursuing licensing agreements in Russia, China, and the MENA region.

Additionally, GC Cell has formed a partnership with Checkpoint Therapeutics for combination therapy with cosibelimab, which received FDA approval for squamous cell carcinoma clinical trials in December.

Korean Association for the Study of the Liver’s President of the Board of Directors Professor Kim Yoon-jun also said, "This represents an opportunity for Korea to take a leading role in immune cell therapy development.”