Interview with CEO Kim Joo-hee
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Inventage Lab is a company that developed a drug delivery system (DDS) platform by applying 'microfluidics' to pharmaceutical manufacturing for the first time. When drugs and water are separately introduced into thin tubes less than 100㎛ (micrometers) and meet in the middle, the water breaks the drug into regular intervals, and the broken drug forms spherical micro-sized particles called microspheres. Currently, Inventage Lab has two pipelines: the microfluidics-based long-acting injectable platform 'DrugFluidic (IVL-DrugFluidic)' and the LNP (lipid nanoparticle) manufacturing platform 'GeneFluidic (IVL-GeneFluidic)' that encapsulates and protects genetic materials such as messenger RNA (mRNA) and delivers them into cells.
Founded by Applying Microfluidics to Long-Acting Injectables
Joohee Kim, CEO of Inventage Lab, founded the company in 2015 after working at various pharmaceutical companies including Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, with an interest in long-acting injectables. Long-acting injectables are drugs that maintain efficacy for 1 to 6 months with a single administration. CEO Kim explained, "I thought the long-acting injectable DDS field was promising, but it was difficult to manufacture and possess the technology, so it was not widely realized. I wondered 'why is that?' and concluded that it was due to limitations of platform technology, so I believed there would be opportunities by introducing microfluidics technology into the DDS platform."
Inventage Lab emphasizes that the DrugFluidic platform can produce higher quality injectables compared to other long-acting injectable manufacturing processes. CEO Kim said, "If the existing manufacturing method for long-acting injectables involves shaking and breaking down a polymer drug solution lump to create particles, our technology extrudes the solution to make particles one by one. Because we make them as intended, the completeness is high and the particles are uniform, which is an advantage."
Currently, Inventage Lab, based on the DrugFluidic platform, has completed Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for the 1-month alopecia treatment IVL3001 in collaboration with Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and is preparing Phase 1 and 2 trials for the 3-month treatment IVL3002. IVL3003, a long-acting injectable version of the existing oral dementia treatment donepezil, received clinical trial approval (IND) in Australia in June for Phase 1 and 2 trials. CEO Kim stated, "We aim to enter clinical trials in the first half of next year."
The reason for preparing improved drugs for alopecia and dementia among many indications is that the strengths as long-acting injectables are clear. He said, "Oral drugs are inconvenient, and any drug has issues with treatment efficacy, safety, or side effects, but I thought these problems would be solved when applied as long-acting injectables."
CEO Kim emphasized that there are advantages in the dementia treatment area compared to other formulations. He said, "Drugs acting on the central nervous system like donepezil lose efficacy when blood concentration drops and cause side effects when it spikes, so maintaining that concentration well is our major strength. Most patients are elderly, so taking medicine frequently is difficult, which can reduce efficacy, and patch formulations need to be replaced every three days, which can be inconvenient."
So far, Inventage Lab has focused on improved drugs that load existing market drugs onto its own platform, but in the future, it aims to develop 'self-developed long-acting new drugs' by loading new indication drugs onto the platform. Clinical development is underway for autoimmune diseases such as IVL4001 for rheumatoid arthritis and IVL4002 for multiple sclerosis.
Secured LNP Manufacturing Technology that Encapsulates mRNA
Following the COVID-19 outbreak and the spotlight on mRNA vaccines, Inventage Lab began developing the LNP manufacturing platform GeneFluidic. CEO Kim said, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, we learned that microfluidics is the most promising recent DDS technology for LNP manufacturing, and since our core technology is the same, we saw an opportunity and started."
LNP is a drug delivery technology necessary for manufacturing mRNA vaccines and gene therapies, and Inventage Lab is the first in Korea to formulate LNP based on microfluidics and secure manufacturing process technology.
Based on this platform, Inventage Lab plans to enter the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business for next-generation vaccines and gene therapies. They also developed their own mixer, the Lamina Mixer, which avoids global pharmaceutical patents related to manufacturing processes. The lab-scale equipment has been developed to produce 22,000 doses per hour, based on Pfizer's COVID-19 mRNA vaccine standards, and the larger pilot-scale equipment called 'Supra' is in the final construction stage after development. This equipment can produce up to 53,000 doses per hour. CEO Kim explained, "The pilot-scale facility can meet nonclinical, clinical, and small-scale commercial demand." Inventage Lab expects to generate revenue and turn profitable around 2025 once the LNP CDMO business generates income and improved drugs are approved.
Inventage Lab, which went public on the 22nd, will challenge new businesses next year. CEO Kim said, "We really burned the midnight oil for the listing this year, and the results were not bad, so I have no regrets about what we have done. However, I regret that we could not focus on the DDS business part due to the listing process." He added, "Next year, we will focus on business promotion. I am looking forward to how much progress the pipelines that have not yet been introduced will make next year."
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