The E&M "Subsidiary Signs LNP MOU with US ABITEC Corporation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] THE E&M announced on the 15th that its subsidiary Luca AI Cell has signed an MOU with ABITEC Corporation regarding LNP (Lipid NanoParticle).

Luca AI Cell is a bio-platform specialized company based on artificial cell membrane technology. CEO Namjun Cho is a co-research director at the Infectious Disease Research Institute of the Singapore-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Joint Research Technology Center and an antiviral expert. In April, he was featured on the main page of Nature, a globally renowned scientific journal, for his work related to lipid coating of antiviral agents.

LNP is a drug delivery system that protects vaccines and active pharmaceutical ingredients to reach target sites stably in various body environments. A company official stated, "Lipids are essential not only for infectious disease vaccines but also for future new drug development for intractable diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer," adding, "There is an urgent need for core technology to avoid preemptive patents by global bio companies, and we aim to secure core drug delivery system technology to establish global competitiveness in new drug development."

ABITEC Corporation, which signed the memorandum of understanding, is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods Plc. (ABF), a global food group with sales reaching KRW 22.4 trillion as of last year. It possesses lipid know-how and manufacturing technology necessary for LNP, which has recently gained attention for its use in messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines. Under ABITEC’s leadership, ABF is aggressively acquiring leading lipid raw material companies worldwide and is currently preparing large-scale lipid production plants and research facilities.

The two companies plan to establish a standard portfolio of drug delivery systems necessary for various vaccines and next-generation new drug development through commercialization and joint research. CEO Cho of Luca AI Cell emphasized, “Through collaboration with ABITEC, we will create a standard portfolio that composes delivery systems suitable for the characteristics and administration purposes of drugs and secure a platform dedicated to next-generation new drug development.”