M2N "Establishes Joint Venture with US Mayo Clinic... Collaborative Research on Cancer Vaccines"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] M2N is partnering with the world-renowned medical institution Mayo Clinic to develop new anticancer drugs.

Mayo Clinic and the U.S. drug development company Greenfire Bio announced on the 14th that they have established a joint venture called 'MGFB' for the joint research and development of solid tumor treatments using oncolytic viruses. Greenfire Bio is a joint venture established in 2020 by M2N along with U.S. drug development experts for the purpose of new drug development.

This joint venture was established to research the anticancer vaccine currently being studied by Mayo Clinic. The joint venture will adopt the virus gene manipulation platform-based anticancer vaccine technology developed by Professor Richard Vile of Mayo Clinic's Immunology Department.

The technology introduced by MGFB from Mayo Clinic uses the mechanism of anticancer vaccines to prevent cancer cells from evading immune surveillance against existing anticancer drugs and to enhance therapeutic effects. By combining recombinant vaccines with existing anticancer drugs, it addresses the weaknesses of current anticancer drugs and can induce sustained responses against tumors.

This recombinant vaccine has shown sustained responses in preclinical studies for melanoma and brain tumors. MGFB plans to advance several programs into clinical trials to address indications with limited current treatment options. Glioblastoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and melanoma are known target indications.

An M2N official stated, “Since it can be applied to various cancer types, we expect a high possibility of commercialization depending on future development results.”