[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Lukas Bio, a cell therapy specialist company, is advancing the development of a universal memory T cell therapy 'LB-DTK-COV19' for treating COVID-19 variants.
Lukas Bio announced on the 6th that it recently published research results related to the development of ‘LB-DTK-COV19’ in collaboration with researchers from the Catholic University Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. The results were published last month in the specialized academic journal Frontiers in Immunology (IF:7.5) under the title ‘Off-the-Shelf Partial HLA Matching SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Specific T Cell Therapy: A New Possibility for COVID-19 Treatment’.
Unlike existing methods targeting the spike protein, LB-DTK-COV19 is a memory T cell therapy trained to triple-target not only the spike antigen but also the nucleocapsid and membrane antigens. Because it targets the nucleocapsid and membrane, which are relatively less prone to mutations, it can be utilized as a ‘universal cell therapy’.
Jok Seok-gu, CEO of Lukas Bio, stated, “It is expected to provide an excellent treatment option for patients who cannot recover from COVID-19 on their own. Not only for COVID-19 but also for any viral disease without vaccines or treatments, as long as the antigen determinant is known, treatment will be possible.”
Regarding this research outcome, Lukas Bio has completed patent registration in South Korea and Japan, and the patent registration is under review in the United States. Additionally, the company plans to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for clinical trial approval within this month.
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