Samsung Life Science Fund's First Domestic Investment is 'ADC'... AimedBio Selected

Samsung's 'Life Science Fund' has chosen AimedBio, a company possessing antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology, as its first domestic investment target.

The Samsung Biologics booth set up at the BIO International Convention 2023 (BIO USA) held in Boston, USA, last June is bustling with visitors.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

On the 13th, Samsung C&T, Samsung Biologics, and Samsung Bioepis, which established the Life Science Fund, announced that they have selected AimedBio as the fourth investment target and the first domestic investment target, and will proceed with equity investment. The investment amount is reported to be in the range of 10 billion KRW.

The Life Science Fund is operated through SVIC No. 54 and No. 63, which were established by Samsung Venture Investment Corporation. No. 54 was established by Samsung C&T and Samsung Biologics in 2021 with a scale of 150 billion KRW, and No. 63 was independently established by Samsung Bioepis in January this year with a scale of 19.8 billion KRW. This investment in AimedBio marks the first time that the No. 63 fund has participated in investment under the Life Science Fund name.

Previously, aiming to 'foster global core bio technologies' and 'improve quality of life,' investments were made in three companies: Jaguar Gene Therapy, a US gene therapy development company, in March 2022; Senda Biosciences, a US nanoparticle drug delivery developer, in May of the same year; and Araris Biotech, a Swiss ADC technology company, in April this year.

AimedBio logo
Photo by AimedBio

Founded in 2018 by Nam Dohyun, a brain tumor specialist and neurosurgery professor at Samsung Medical Center, AimedBio has attracted industry attention by developing pipelines with proprietary technology. Based on achievements published in world-class journals such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Cell, Cancer Cell, and Genome Biology, developed by the Samsung Medical Center research team in advanced bio platform technologies related to multi-omics, precision medicine, and translational research, AimedBio utilizes artificial intelligence (AI)-based analysis of clinical and genomic information of tumor patients and patient-derived experimental models to increase the likelihood of successful new drug development.

AimedBio applies this technology to the development of biopharmaceuticals such as antibodies and ADCs, and has received support from the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF) for three new drug candidates: 'AMB302,' 'AMB001,' and 'AMB018.' Among these, AMB302, an ADC, is being developed as a first-in-class innovative drug candidate targeting FGFR3 for glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, and bladder cancer. It aims to enter human clinical trials next year. AimedBio is strengthening its competitiveness by establishing collaborative systems with advanced overseas ADC technology developers such as China's GeneQuantum HealthCare.

Through this equity investment, Samsung Biologics plans to conduct joint research with AimedBio on ADC toolbox development and collaborate in various areas, including carrying out contract development (CDO) projects for 'AMB001,' a single antibody-based CD200R1-targeting pipeline for atopic dermatitis and dementia.

John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics, is explaining the plan for an ADC dedicated production facility at a press conference held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, last June.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

In particular, with this investment in AimedBio, two ADC companies have been selected among the Life Science Fund's investments, reflecting Samsung's strong interest in ADCs. In January, John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics, declared, "We will expand our contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) portfolio with next-generation drugs such as ADCs and gene therapy drugs," and set a goal to establish dedicated ADC production facilities by next year. Since ADCs contain potent toxins, Samsung aims to build separate production plants rather than using existing general antibody drug manufacturing facilities.

In April, the Life Science Fund also invested in Araris, a Swiss company developing ADC linker and conjugation technologies. Namjin Jung, Vice President and Head of Bio Research Center at Samsung Biologics, emphasized that the reason for the investment was that Araris's technology aligns with Samsung Biologics' direction. He evaluated Araris's ADC technology, 'AraLinker,' stating, "It has a tremendous advantage in that it can conjugate existing antibodies, including off-the-shelf antibodies brought by clients, without modification," and called it "an ideal technology." Regarding the process, he explained, "Processes involving multiple steps require more bioreactors and purification at each stage, making it complex," and added, "AraLinker is an innovative technology that can complete the process in a single step," highlighting its process efficiency. Samsung Biologics is reportedly considering joint research to utilize Araris's technology.

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