Chaperon Signs MOU with Dong-A ST for Nanobody Technology-Based Drug Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] On the 2nd, Shaperon, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in new drug development, announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dong-A ST for the joint development of biopharmaceutical new drugs.

The joint development agreement aims to co-develop treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases using nanobody-based biopharmaceuticals. Nanobodies are antibodies about 10% the size of conventional antibodies and are attracting attention as a core technology for next-generation immuno-oncology drugs due to their excellent stability, solubility, high production yield, and high homology with human antibodies, making the development of therapeutic and diagnostic platforms easier.

They will develop biopharmaceutical new drugs by combining Shaperon’s nanobody technology with Dong-A ST’s new drug development platform. Shaperon builds a nanobody library and develops antibodies suitable for selected targets, verifying efficacy at the cellular level. Joint efficacy verification in animal models will be conducted with Dong-A ST. Once efficacy verification in animal models is completed, Dong-A ST will be responsible for establishing cell lines for the nanobody antibodies. Furthermore, throughout the preclinical process, both companies plan to jointly discover anticancer targets and evaluate the efficacy of candidate antibodies.

Myungse Lee, CEO of Shaperon, said, “Through this business agreement, we expect achievements such as the development of biopharmaceutical new drugs for treating cancer and chronic inflammation and creating corporate value through technology transfer. We will strive to expand synergy by utilizing the core competencies of both companies and ultimately succeed in commercialization.”

Shaperon possesses nanobody development platform technology. It is an advanced technology that enables various administration routes such as oral or inhalation. In the trend of new drug development where the structure of protein-based drugs such as bispecific antibodies or Antibody Drug Conjugates becomes more complex, it is expected to overcome the side effects and low production efficiency of conventional antibodies. Based on the nanobody platform, Shaperon is developing various pipelines including immune checkpoint inhibitor bispecific antibodies and coronavirus neutralizing antibodies.

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