National Cancer Center Holds 'Cancer Science Forum' for Anticancer Drug Development

Participants of the National Cancer Center Cancer Science Forum 'Anti-Cancer Drug Development A-Z, New Anti-Cancer Strategies: Selective Protein Degradation' are taking a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The National Cancer Center announced on the 7th that it successfully concluded the '2022 Cancer Science Forum' on the 4th at the International Conference Hall of the National Cancer Center's National Cancer Prevention and Screening Building in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.

This forum was held under the theme "Anti-Cancer New Drug Development A-Z, New Anti-Cancer Strategies: Selective Protein Degradation," with over 500 experts in new drug development, medical professionals, and biomedical researchers attending. At the forum, the National Cancer Center shared the progress and future directions of new drug development utilizing 'Selective Protein Degradation (TPD),' a recently spotlighted innovative new drug development platform technology.

In the first part of the forum, Jong-Yeon Hwang, Principal Researcher at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, reviewed the development process, advantages and disadvantages, and future prospects of TPD technology. Following this, Tae-Bo Shim, Professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, shared efficient design methods for PROTAC as a new 'modality' in anti-cancer treatment strategies and presented integrated guidelines for systematic design of new kinase degraders. Hyun-Seok Lim, Professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology, presented on the development of protein degradation induction technology via the N-degron pathway and the discovery of new drug candidates utilizing this technology.

The second part featured presentations introducing various forms of TPD technology and the current status of their development. Bo-Kwang Seo, CEO of Ubix Therapeutics, shared the advantages and disadvantages of TPD technology and the current development status focused mainly on small molecules. Additionally, he introduced emerging platform technologies such as BioPROTAC and discussed research and development trends in TPD technology.

Yong-Tae Kwon, Professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine, introduced the progress of next-generation drug development using AUTOTAC, an autophagy-based targeted protein degradation technology. Lastly, Hyun-Seon Cho, CEO of Fin Therapeutics, presented on the development of protein degradation drugs using molecular adhesives as a new anti-cancer treatment strategy, demonstrating the potential for commercialization.

Young-Woo Kim, Director of the National Cancer Center Research Institute, stated, “Through this forum, in-depth discussions on new drug development using TPD technology were conducted,” and added, “If drug development based on TPD technology is commercialized, it is expected to be applicable to diseases that are difficult to overcome with existing drugs, producing tangible results in the treatment of rare and intractable cancers.”

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