ST Pharm Reveals Preclinical Results of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine

New Platform 'Smart LNP' Also Announced

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] ST Pharm announced on the 10th that it attended the '10th International Messenger RNA (mRNA) Health Conference' held over three days from the 8th to the 10th (local time) in Boston, USA, where it presented the preclinical results of its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate 'STP2104' and conducted partnering meetings related to mRNA platform technology transfer and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services.

At this conference, ST Pharm made the first poster presentation of the preclinical results of STP2104. The company disclosed data on the intracellular expression efficiency of STP2104, which applies the 'SmartCap' technology, as well as humoral and cellular immunogenic efficacy including neutralizing antibody titers in animal experiments, and preventive efficacy results from challenge vaccination experiments. ST Pharm plans to present these preclinical results orally at the 'TIDES Europe 2022' conference to be held from the 16th to the 18th in Vienna, Austria.

Additionally, Professor Hyukjin Lee of Ewha Womans University, who is jointly researching lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology with ST Pharm, introduced the newly developed LNP platform 'SmartLNP' co-developed with ST Pharm during his presentation titled 'Development and screening of ionizable lipid nanoparticles for vaccine and therapeutic applications.'

In mouse experimental models, SmartLNP showed more than 33% higher expression of the erythropoietin (hEPO) protein compared to the ionizable lipids used in existing COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, confirming that its efficacy is superior to conventional LNPs. Furthermore, SmartLNP was found to have higher safety than existing LNPs by reducing the secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), an inflammatory chemokine known to cause side effects of mRNA vaccines.

An ST Pharm official stated, "Many global pharmaceutical and biotech companies face setbacks in mRNA new drug development due to unresolved patent issues related to capping and LNPs," adding, "ST Pharm's proprietary technologies, SmartCap and SmartLNP, will enable various business partnerships ranging from mRNA CDMO to platform technology exports, joint research using these technologies, and raw material supply."