GC Green Cross Cell Registers Patent for Solid Tumor-Targeting CAR-T Cell Therapy

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] GC Green Cross Cell has registered a patent for a CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor)-T therapy targeting solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer.

GC Green Cross Cell announced on the 9th that it has completed domestic patent registration for 'Mesothelin-specific chimeric antigen receptor and T cells expressing it.' CAR-T therapy is a type of immune cell therapy that manipulates a patient's T cells ex vivo to produce CARs on the surface of immune cells that recognize specific protein antigens on cancer cell surfaces, then re-infuses them into the patient, acting like a guided missile that precisely attacks only cancer cells.

The patented CAR-T therapy demonstrated excellent anticancer effects and persistence, while no off-target toxicity was found, confirming that it does not attack normal cells, which is one of the serious side effects of CAR-T. Additionally, the therapeutically applicable dosage range for clinical use was confirmed, enabling rapid application to clinical trials.

Mesothelin is a cancer antigen recently gaining attention in the field of solid tumor-targeting CAR-T therapies. It is known to have expression rates of 85-90% in mesothelioma, 80-85% in pancreatic cancer, and 60-65% in ovarian and lung cancers. Particularly, solid tumors have low T cell infiltration due to the tumor microenvironment, and even infiltrated T cells have suppressed immune function activity, making it difficult to achieve sufficient anticancer effects. In fact, approved therapies to date are limited to hematologic cancers, and ongoing research in solid tumors has yet to yield significant results, indicating many unmet needs.

Lee Deuk-joo, CEO of GC Green Cross Cell, said, “The CAR-T therapy patented this time is the candidate showing the best efficacy among solid tumor-targeting CAR-T therapies currently under development and is advancing toward entering clinical trials in the United States. It has also been filed for international patent protection under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), aiming for overseas patent registration in the U.S. and other countries soon. This patent marks another step toward entering CAR-T clinical trials in the U.S.”

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