ST Pharm Advances mRNA Cancer Vaccine Development with Theragen Bio

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] ST Pharm is partnering with Theragen Bio to develop messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) cancer vaccines.

ST Pharm announced on the 17th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Theragen Bio for joint research and development and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) cooperation of neo-antigen mRNA cancer vaccines.

Under this MOU, ST Pharm will provide 5-prime capping (5’-Capping) and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery platform technologies and will be responsible for CDMO of mRNA-LNP vaccine bulk from clinical trials through commercialization. Theragen Bio will be in charge of deriving mRNA cancer vaccine candidates using neo-antigen prediction methods based on artificial intelligence (AI) gene sequence analysis. Theragen Bio is recognized for possessing a world-class neo-antigen prediction platform technology, having consecutively placed as runner-up in the global drug response prediction competitions since 2019.

The neo-antigen mRNA cancer vaccine is developed by analyzing major mutations and characteristics of cancer cell genes extracted from cancer patients to predict optimized neo-antigens, then administering mRNA that produces these neo-antigens to the patients, inducing immune responses that specifically target cancer cells to treat cancer.

Currently, worldwide clinical studies combining mRNA cancer vaccines and immune checkpoint inhibitors are actively underway. Moderna is conducting combination clinical trials with Merck, and CureVac/BioNTech are collaborating with Roche/Genentech on combination trials for solid tumors and others.

An ST Pharm official stated, “ST Pharm possesses core platform technologies essential for mRNA vaccine research such as capping and LNP, and furthermore, it is the only mRNA CDMO company worldwide capable of producing from raw materials to mRNA-LNP bulk.” The official added, “We will leverage this MOU as an opportunity to integrate the core platform technologies of both companies to create synergy and make our best efforts to become a leader in the development of neo-antigen mRNA cancer vaccines.”