Celltrion Partners with Basgen Bio for Biomarker Development

"Expanding In-House Data Utilization Capabilities"
Building Long-Term Partnerships Through Equity Investments

Celltrion announced on the 4th that it has signed a joint research and development agreement with Vasgen Bio, a bio big data specialized company.

At the Celltrion-Basgen Bio joint research and investment agreement ceremony held on the 4th at Celltrion Plant 1 in Songdo, Incheon, (from left) Jang Il-tae, CEO of Basgen Bio, Ki Woo-sung, CEO of Celltrion, and Kim Ho, CEO of Basgen Bio, exchanged the agreement documents and took a commemorative photo. Photo by Celltrion

According to the agreement, both companies will form a joint research committee and plan to carry out 10 related joint research and development projects over the next five years to achieve the goal of "securing genome analysis capabilities and developing biomarkers."

Through this agreement, Celltrion explained that it will expand its research and development (R&D) scope not only in existing drug development but also in bio big data analysis. Celltrion plans to collaborate with Vasgen Bio to develop genomic biomarkers to define optimal patient groups for drugs, discover disease targets, screen candidate substances, and apply related technologies to clinical trial design.

Biomarkers are indicators that can detect changes within the body using proteins, DNA, RNA (ribonucleic acid), metabolites, and so on. Recently, with the increasing demand for precision medicine, biomarkers are gaining attention in the market as they are expected to objectively measure disease diagnosis and drug treatment responses.

Vasgen Bio, established in 2018, is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based bio big data specialized company focusing on biomarker discovery and AI drug development. It possesses proprietary biomarker discovery solutions to predict and diagnose changes in disease risk over time, as well as the DEEPCT (DEEP learning-based Clinical Trial) solution that predicts drug efficacy through simulation. Notably, it has secured exclusive rights to use genomic cohort data of approximately 160,000 individuals, which has allowed it to stand out in the field of precision medicine.

A Celltrion official stated, "Through the joint research and development agreement with Vasgen Bio, we have secured capabilities to utilize our own data and can quickly respond to the paradigm shift in the pharmaceutical market toward precision medicine. When Vasgen Bio’s AI bio big data technology is combined with Celltrion’s experience in antibody drug development and sales, the synergy for new drug development will be maximized, solidifying the market position of Celltrion’s pharmaceuticals."

Meanwhile, Celltrion signed an equity investment agreement simultaneously with the joint research and development contract with Vasgen Bio. Both companies plan to build a long-term partnership through equity investment and joint research agreements and to pool their capabilities to achieve the common goal of biomarker development.

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