GI Cell's 'Regulatory T Cell Therapy' Selected for Government Support Project

GI Innovation affiliate GI Cell announced on the 11th that its patient-customized regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy 'Drone Treg' has been selected for regenerative medicine-related technology development in the 2023 Korea Foundation for Regenerative Medicine (KFRM) new support projects.

The mechanism of action of GI Cell's regulatory T cell therapy 'Drone Treg' [Image provided by GI Cell]

KFRM is a project group that supports research and development in the entire regenerative medicine field from core and foundational technologies to clinical application stages. Since 2021, it has supported projects for developing foundational regenerative medicine technologies, regenerative medicine-related technology development, and regenerative medicine therapeutics and treatment technologies. The regenerative medicine-related technology development project aims for clinical phase 1 approval of candidate therapeutics and treatment technologies in the regenerative medicine field by supporting process development, safety and efficacy evaluation, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) technology transfer. With this project selection, GI Cell will receive approximately KRW 1.76 billion in research funding over four years for nonclinical studies and clinical phase 1 approval of Drone Treg.

'Drone Treg' is a therapy that precisely targets specific organs like a drone, a patient-customized regulatory T cell therapy that finely expresses tissue-specific target receptors during the cultivation process. The currently developing Drone Treg is said to have differentiated strengths in ▲high expression rates of gut mucosal target receptors (CCR9, α4β7) ▲high expression of FoxP3, a key element of regulatory T cells ▲and abundant secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, GI Cell plans to establish a large-scale cultivation process by applying its immune cell mass cultivation platform technology, 'Immune CellPure Expander.'

Regulatory T cells have recently attracted attention as next-generation cell therapies, with partnerships such as Zentiva and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) securing a $1.9 billion (approximately KRW 2.5 trillion) deal, and Sonoma Biotherapeutics and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals entering a $120 million joint development agreement.

Myeongho Jang, Chief Scientific Advisor of GI Cell, stated, “Although the number of patients with autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is steadily increasing, there are still insufficient options for patients who are unresponsive or have relapsed after existing treatments. While there are many challenges to overcome in the regulatory T cell field, we aim to develop innovative regulatory T cell therapies to provide patients with diverse treatment options.” Hong Cheonpyo, CEO of GI Cell, also said, “With this project selection, not only our natural killer (NK) cell therapies but also the potential for regulatory T cell therapy development has been recognized. We will actively pursue early technology transfer at the nonclinical stage along with the project goal of Investigational New Drug (IND) approval.”

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