[Featured Stock] Nivec, Preliminary Test Results Show 90% Tumor Reduction... Second-Line Anticancer Drug Expected to Overcome Resistance and Metastasis

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Nivek is showing strength. The news that it has succeeded in developing a 'functional intracellular delivery bio-PROTAC' protein by combining the drug delivery platform 'NIPEP-TPP' with PROTAC technology that degrades disease-causing proteins appears to have influenced its stock price.

As of 2:32 PM on the 23rd, Nivek is trading at 34,100 KRW, up 3.49% from the previous trading day.

Nivek explained that by applying bio-PROTAC to the tumor gene 'KRAS G12C', which shows mutations in various cancer types, it confirmed not only a reduction in KRAS G12C expression but also a decrease in the expression of downstream signaling proteins and proteins that cause resistant cancer. The company is pushing to apply this technology in the gene therapy field.

A company representative said, "The reason PROTAC technology is difficult to commercialize is that it is poorly soluble in water and difficult to deliver intracellularly," adding, "Nivek succeeded in deriving a peptide sequence that directly binds to the KRAS mutant protein and a protein sequence that leads KRAS degradation enzymes using the 'TOPSCOVERY' technology instead of small molecules." This was combined with NIPEP-TPP to enable entry into cells.

Nivek confirmed through preliminary tests applying the bio-PROTAC substance that tumor size was reduced by 90%. Bio-PROTAC also showed effectiveness against resistant cancer, prompting research to utilize it for treating various tumors with resistance. Since it was already conducting joint research with global pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments for existing KRAS mutant tumors, the development of anticancer new drugs based on bio-PROTAC will also be promoted through joint research. Research has also begun to apply bio-PROTAC as a platform effective against resistant cancer for treating various tumors with resistance.

A Nivek representative stated, "Since there are no cases of PROTAC technology being commercialized and entering the market, applying it to anticancer new drugs can establish it as a unique therapeutic agent," adding, "Because all tumor treatments cause resistant cancer and metastasis after administration, there is a need for secondary anticancer drugs, and the related market growth rate is evaluated to exceed 40% annually."

Stable safety and efficacy tests on 'KRAS antibody delivery transport' are being conducted with global pharmaceutical companies with whom Nivek continues to collaborate. The company explained that by adding bio-PROTAC technology, 'packaging of tumor treatment' has become possible, leading to collaboration requests from various global pharmaceutical companies.