STCube Initiates Primate Trials for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Innovative Drug Candidate ‘STT-003’

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] STCube, a bio company developing immune-modulating anticancer drugs, announced on the 29th that it has begun primate experiments for the global Phase 1 clinical trial of ‘hSTC810,’ an antibody targeting the innovative new drug (First in Class) ‘STT-003’ under development.

A company official stated, "Through primate experiments on hSTC810, we plan to verify toxicity and pharmacokinetic characteristics according to drug dosage," adding, "The STT-003 antibody is one of the company’s main new drug pipelines, and procedures for proceeding with the global Phase 1 clinical trial are progressing smoothly."

The immune checkpoint target STT-003 discovered by STCube shows limited expression in normal tissue cells, whereas its expression rate in various cancer cells is higher than that of the existing immune checkpoint target PD-L1. Additionally, it is expressed in immune cells such as T lymphocytes similarly to the existing immune checkpoint target PD-1, making it an immune checkpoint molecule that comprehensively suppresses anticancer immune functions in cancer patients.

In July of last year, STCube signed a contract with Charles River Laboratories, a preclinical contract research organization (CRO) in the United States, for preclinical trials of the STT-003 antibody.

A company official explained, "We expect the safety of STT-003 to be sufficiently verified in the ongoing primate experiments," and added, "If only the safety of STT-003 is verified, its higher expression rate in cancer cells compared to other immune-modulating anticancer drugs is expected to result in higher efficacy compared to existing immune-modulating anticancer drugs."

Meanwhile, hSTC810 developed by STCube has been smoothly produced for clinical trials by Samsung Biologics since last year.

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