BioPlus Secures Management Rights of 'Ubiprotein' for Next-Generation Protein Drug Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] BioPlus (CEO Jung Hyunkyoo), a company specializing in biomaterial medical devices and bio products, announced on the 21st that it has decided to acquire management rights by participating in a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase for 2.625 billion KRW to acquire 52.96% of the shares of UbiProtein.

Through this, BioPlus secured the core technology of the next-generation protein drug half-life extension platform, laying the foundation to accelerate the development of BioPlus’s next-generation product groups such as ‘improved botulinum toxin,’ ‘next-generation diet and diabetes treatment GLP-1,’ and ‘broad-spectrum antiviral agents.’

UbiProtein, established in October 2010, is a technology-based platform company that holds patents for 22 types of biobetter protein drugs, including six major protein drugs such as insulin, growth hormone, and G-CSF with extended half-life, starting with patent applications for the ‘method of extending protein half-life.’

The ‘platform core technology based on the Ubiquitination system developed by UbiProtein to extend the half-life of protein drugs in the body’ blocks the degradation of protein drugs in the body, allowing immediate application to existing biosimilars and protein drugs to extend their half-life. Because it minimizes protein structure, it has advantages in immunogenicity, stability, and efficacy.

Additionally, compared to other fusion protein strategies that have issues such as high cost, solubility changes, long-term toxicity, complex production processes, and low yield, this technology has a simple production process, making it competitive in production costs. A major differentiator is that it can utilize existing protein drug production platforms as is.

Based on AUT technology, BioPlus plans to improve the in vivo half-life and stability of liraglutide, a GLP-1 agonist, and develop biologically linked and conjugated proteins to create a next-generation improved obesity treatment drug with increased efficacy and duration, allowing significant effects with small doses. This will reformulate existing products that require daily injections into sustained-release formulations administered once every 1 to 2 weeks, improving patient convenience as well as efficacy and side effect profiles.

A company official stated, “We will create high synergy by combining UbiProtein’s excellent core technology and R&D capabilities with BioPlus’s bio business competitiveness and outstanding network,” and emphasized, “Through the development of high-quality improved new drugs, we will maximize product marketability and lead the market with next-generation product groups such as improved botulinum toxin and broad-spectrum antiviral agents.”