[Click eStock] "STVQube, a New Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor... Expected to Receive Great Attention"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Hanyang Securities forecasted that STCube could receive great expectations once data on its new immune checkpoint inhibitor is released. They did not provide an investment opinion or target price.

STCube is a company developing new immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs, which are the main trend in anticancer drugs like Keytruda and Opdivo. Its representative new drug candidate is ‘STT-003,’ an immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting a novel target. In addition, it is developing improved drugs targeting PD-L1 and PD-1, such as ‘STT-001’ and ‘STT-002.’

Byungyong Oh, a researcher at Hanyang Securities, stated, "STT-003 is not a new drug that inhibits well-known immune checkpoint targets such as PD-L1, PD-1, or CTLA-4." He emphasized, "After years of research, STCube discovered a new target on its own. Although STCube has not yet disclosed the name of this new target protein, we can confirm the potential of this target through the research conducted so far."

He added, "‘STT-003’ is not an immune anticancer drug that increases the response rate of Keytruda. It is a new drug with a big dream to be developed as a fundamental alternative to Keytruda."

Researcher Oh explained that the target of ‘STT-003’ is expressed not only on cancer cells but also on T cells. He said, "It can be seen as performing the roles of PD-L1 (Keytruda target), which is mainly expressed on cancer cells, and PD-1 (Opdivo target), which is mainly expressed on T cells." He explained, "Therefore, the effect of target inhibition is expected to be significant, and it can be expected to have an effect similar to administering Opdivo and Keytruda together." He added, "In actual animal experiments, it showed anticancer effects as good as PD-L1 antibodies."

He said, "‘STT-003’ is currently undergoing preclinical trials aiming to apply for FDA IND in the second quarter of next year and start clinical trials in the third quarter." He added, "A preclinical-related paper is scheduled to be published by mid-next year, at which time the target protein of STT-003 will also be disclosed." He emphasized, "There is great curiosity about the still undisclosed mysterious target, and once the target protein is revealed and various experimental data are shared with the world, it is judged to be a company that can receive great expectations."