STCube's Research Paper on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor PD-1 Antibody Published in International Journal 'Cancer Research'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] STCube, a bio company developing immune checkpoint inhibitors, announced on the 12th that research results on STM418, an immune checkpoint inhibitor developed as a new drug candidate, have been published in the world-renowned cancer research journal Cancer Research.

STM418, listed in the paper, is a novel concept PD-1 antibody discovered by revealing the function of glycosylation in the immune checkpoint protein PD-1. STCube conducted research on STM418 in collaboration with its joint research partners, the US MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and the China Medical University in Taiwan.

STCube focused on the fact that the glycosylation site of PD-1 has a significant impact on its function and conducted an analysis of the characteristics of each glycosylation site of PD-1. They found that glycosylated PD-1 has enhanced stability and remains on the cell surface for a long time, and among the glycosylation sites of PD-1, the N58 site binds particularly strongly to PD-L1.

STM418, which specifically recognizes glycosylated PD-1, showed higher binding affinity than other PD-1 antibodies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and strongly inhibited the binding of PD-1 and PD-L1, demonstrating a high anticancer effect. In animal experiments, STM418 significantly inhibited tumor growth more than other PD-1 antibodies, and the survival period of animals with cancer was also longer.

Among immune checkpoint inhibitors, PD-1 has become a basic treatment for cancer patients, and the representative PD-1 antibody Keytruda achieved sales of about 13.15 trillion KRW last year as a single product. Since STM418 shows superior anticancer effects compared to existing PD-1 antibodies, it is expected to have a significant impact on the market if it is commercialized as a new drug in the future.

A company official said, "We are pleased that the paper on STM418, in which STCube researchers are listed as co-authors, has been published in Cancer Research," and added, "Since the excellent anticancer effect of STM418 has been recognized by academia, we expect to proceed with clinical trials as an innovative immune checkpoint inhibitor."

He continued, "Through the US R&D IR event jointly held last month with the US MD Anderson Cancer Center, we will do our best to achieve rapid results by promoting FDA clinical trial application (IND) approval and phase 1 clinical trials for STM418 along with the newly introduced STT-003 antibody."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.