Innoen Begins Global Anticancer Drug Development with Voronoi

Biomarker-Based Personalized Targeted Cancer Therapy... Global Clinical Entry Targeted for 2022

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Inno.N is partnering with Voronoi, a specialized new drug research and development company, to develop global anticancer drugs.

Inno.N announced on the 15th that it has recently acquired a new drug substance from Voronoi, focusing on global anticancer drug development as a core growth engine. The anticancer drug substance introduced this time, ‘VRN061782,’ belongs to the ‘selective RET kinase inhibitor’ class. It works by inhibiting the activity of the RET gene when it mutates or fuses with other genes to cause cancer, among kinases which are signaling molecules in the body.

This anticancer drug class is a next-generation category with only two products worldwide. It is also considered a promising market expected to grow to about 2 trillion KRW by 2026. Inno.N plans to develop this substance into one of its representative new drug pipelines competing in the global market, aiming to enter global clinical trials by 2022.

Inno.N plans to develop it as a customized targeted anticancer drug that selectively attacks cancer cells with the same biomarker regardless of the cancer location, including lung cancer and thyroid cancer with RET gene fusion or mutation. The goal is to develop the most outstanding anticancer drug in this class, differentiated by anticancer efficacy, overcoming resistance, and safety.

Previously, when cancer was caused by RET gene issues, there were no suitable treatments, so ‘non-selective kinase inhibitors’ that attack not only the problematic RET gene but also other genes were used as substitutes. However, due to low drug response rates and side effects, selective RET inhibitors that only suppress RET gene activity, such as Lilly’s Selpercatinib and Roche’s Pralsetinib, have recently begun to emerge.

VRN061782 is characterized by showing a higher response to drug resistance than existing competitive drugs of the same class in non-clinical animal tests. It also selectively attacks specific genes and has confirmed excellent cardiovascular safety.

Kang Seok-hee, CEO of Inno.N, said, “Our goal is to rapidly enter the global anticancer drug market by creating synergy between Voronoi’s excellent new drug candidate discovery research capabilities and Inno.N’s new drug development capabilities,” adding, “We plan to secure pipelines in various disease areas with global competitiveness through active open innovation.”

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