ZenenBio Selected as Final Winner for New Project on Xenotransplantation Development by Ministry of Health and Welfare

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Genenbio, a xenotransplantation specialist company Genenbio, announced on the 27th that it has been finally selected as the lead institution for the ‘2020 1st Health and Medical R&D New Support Project’ hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The project that Genenbio will lead is ‘Verification of the Clinical Applicability of Xenotransplantation of Organs.’ The project is funded with government grants amounting to 8.25 billion KRW and involves joint participation from five institutions including Seoul National University Hospital and Samsung Seoul Hospital. Specifically, it plans to comprehensively oversee ▲development of genetically modified pigs for xenotransplantation ▲establishment of a germ-free production system ▲clinical application, including the development and transplantation feasibility verification of solid organs such as kidneys and liver.

Until now, the most representative xenotransplantation development research conducted domestically was the project under the Ministry of Health and Welfare led by the Bio Xenotransplantation Development Project Group for 15 years. During the research period, the project group conducted studies developing xenogeneic corneas and pancreatic islets, considered the first steps in xenotransplantation. Genenbio appointed Park Jung-kyu, the project leader of the Bio Xenotransplantation Development Project Group, as an outside director in July last year and recruited many researchers from the project group, thereby securing a cooperative structure to succeed the domestic bio xenotransplantation development project.

This new Ministry of Health and Welfare project will take a step further from the xenotransplantation development research conducted by the project group so far, verifying the clinical feasibility of transplanting pig kidneys and livers into humans. The cornea, a tissue field, has almost no blood vessels and thus relatively low immune rejection, and pancreatic islets are transplanted at the cellular level, whereas solid organs have relatively higher transplantation risks, making this the most challenging research area in xenotransplantation.

Nevertheless, overseas, successful xenogeneic solid organ research results have been announced, such as the joint research team from Emory University in the U.S. transplanting pig kidneys into primates and achieving survival for up to 499 days as published in February last year. The industry expects that through this Ministry of Health and Welfare project, domestic research can be conducted at a level equal to advanced countries.

Genenbio CEO Sungjoo Kim stated, “Genenbio plans to comprehensively lead this project, which involves transplanting genetically modified miniature pig organs into primates to confirm survival rates,” and added, “This project will be an important momentum to develop xenogeneic organs that can be safely produced and transplanted into humans by establishing a safe raw material production system and clinical protocols.”

Selected for the Patent Office-led project as well, plans to acquire intellectual property rights for immunosuppressants for organ transplantation

Genenbio was also selected on the 10th for the ‘2020 First Half IP-R&D Strategic Support Project’ hosted by the Korean Intellectual Property Office, specifically for the ‘Intellectual Property-linked R&D Strategic Support Project.’ In this Patent Office project, Genenbio plans to acquire intellectual property rights for the development of immunosuppressants for organ transplantation using the immunosuppressant candidate substances ‘BSF-110’ and ‘GX-P1,’ which were licensed from Genexine in January.

BSF-110 and GX-P1, based on PD-L1, are immunosuppressant candidates attracting attention as next-generation drugs due to their lower toxicity compared to existing immunosuppressants. Genenbio signed a technology transfer agreement with Genexine in January to exclusively develop and commercialize these substances in the field of organ transplantation. GX-P1 received approval for Phase 1 clinical trials on the 31st of last month and is being co-developed with Genexine.

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