[Click eStock] "STCube to Announce Interim Results of Phase 1 Clinical Trial in November... Potential for Technology Transfer"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] KB Securities analyzed on the 4th that STCube may pursue technology transfer and other opportunities following the announcement of interim results from the Phase 1 clinical trial of its immune checkpoint inhibitor new drug candidate scheduled for November.

STCube is a specialized bio company in immune checkpoint inhibitors, established in 1989 and listed on KOSDAQ in 2001. PD-1/PD-L1/CTLA-4 proteins are immune checkpoint (immune evasion) molecules that disable the function of immune cells called T cells. STCube was the first in the world to discover a new immune checkpoint protein called ‘BTN1A1’. They developed a new drug candidate ‘hSTC810 antibody’ targeting this protein.

Im Clinical Researcher at KB Securities explained in the report, “BTN1A1 is expressed in most cancers and shows mutually exclusive expression patterns with the existing immune checkpoint molecule ‘PD-L1’,” adding, “It was found at a high rate in cancer patients who could not use immune checkpoint inhibitors due to low expression rates of PD-1 and PD-L1.”

The expression rates of BTN1A1 are 65% in ovarian cancer, 54% in non-small cell lung cancer, 46% in head and neck cancer, 49% in esophageal cancer, and 35% in bladder cancer.

STCube is currently conducting global and domestic Phase 1 clinical trials for hSTC810. The researcher stated, “Interim results of the Phase 1 trial will be presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) conference held from the 8th to the 12th (local time) in the U.S.,” and forecasted, “There is a possibility that technology transfer and other initiatives will be pursued during the clinical trial.”

He added, “Monotherapy is possible for patients who have failed existing commercialized PD-(L)1 treatments,” and “The therapeutic effect may increase with combination therapy, so higher growth than other treatments can be expected.”

Furthermore, he said, “Led by Merck’s Keytruda and BMS’s Opdivo, the immune checkpoint inhibitor market continues to show high growth,” and “Overall sales growth and an increasing share of sales within pharmaceutical companies are occurring in immune checkpoint inhibitors, which will bring new opportunities to STCube.”

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