Apclon and National Cancer Center Jointly Develop CAR-T Therapy for Refractory Solid Tumors

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Appclon announced on the 8th that it has signed a joint research agreement with the National Cancer Center to develop a CAR-T cell therapy targeting Claudin (CLDN)-18.2 for solid tumors.

Through this joint research, both institutions plan to utilize their proprietary platform technologies to develop CAR-T cell therapies for the treatment of refractory solid tumors.

The research team at the National Cancer Center has developed a platform technology that activates the cytotoxicity of T cells specifically against cancer cells and a gene therapy technology using CAR-T cells targeting antigens present only on cancer cells. Based on this, Appclon plans to develop a CAR-T cell therapy targeting the specific antigen Claudin-18.2.

Professor Jun-ho Jeong of Seoul National University College of Medicine, an authority in antibody drugs and CAR-T cell therapy research, is participating in the development of antibodies among the components of the CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) that acts on the Claudin-18.2 antigen. Professor Jeong explained, “Claudin-18.2 is characterized by overexpression in gastric and pancreatic cancers, so it is considered a promising target to address the unmet needs of patients with refractory solid tumors.”

Appclon is currently conducting a Phase 1 clinical trial in Korea for the blood cancer CAR-T cell therapy ‘AT101’.