3x Increase in Refractory Leukemia Survival Rate... Development of 'NK Cell' Mass Production Technology

Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology Transfers Technology to Private Companies for Commercial Clinical Approval by Year-End

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology announced on the 24th that it has developed a technology to differentiate and mass-proliferate highly active NK cells (natural killer cells) from hematopoietic stem cells to treat leukemia and lung cancer, and has transferred the technology to a private company.

The developed NK cell-based anticancer immunotherapy technology attacks cancer cells without self-proliferation after being injected into the human body and gradually disappears, resulting in almost no side effects compared to T cell-based immunotherapy and enabling cost reduction in treatment.

Dr. Choi In-pyo’s team at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology developed a technology to isolate and differentiate NK cells from hematopoietic stem cells and mass-proliferate highly active NK cells. In collaboration with Professor Lee Kyu-hyung’s research team at Seoul Asan Hospital, clinical treatment was conducted on patients with intractable leukemia, resulting in suppression of cancer progression and a remarkable increase in survival rates. The treated group recorded a survival rate more than three times higher than the untreated group.

South Korea has recently seen a rapid increase in cancer patients due to super-aging. However, patients resistant to anticancer drugs or those experiencing relapse or metastasis face a sharp decline in survival rates due to insufficient treatment technologies. In the case of lung cancer, the 5-year survival rate is only 19% when resistance to targeted anticancer drugs occurs, and for leukemia, the 1-year survival rate after relapse is below 10%.

On the other hand, anticancer immunotherapy technology utilizes the patient’s own immune cells, making it cancer-specific (acting only on certain cancer cells) with high anticancer efficacy and low side effects. NK cells are representative autologous immune cells that do not require additional stimulation and act as specialized anticancer immune cells by producing various receptors and cytokines to eliminate cancer cells.

The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology signed a technology transfer (exclusive license) agreement with Ingenium Therapeutics Co., Ltd., a biotech startup specializing in immunotherapy technology, with a lump-sum technology fee of 9.5 billion KRW and an additional 145 billion KRW in royalties based on future sales performance as conditions. The plan is to pass commercial clinical trials within this year.

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