[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Celltrion announced on the 25th that it has additionally secured shares of Iksuda Therapeutics, a UK-based antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) developer, through direct investment and the Mirae Asset Celltrion New Growth Fund, which participates together with Mirae Asset Group.
Celltrion and Mirae Asset Group signed a contract in June 2021 to participate in the ‘Iksuda Series A Funding.’ The Series A funding led by the two companies involved a total investment of $47 million (approximately 58 billion KRW). Through this, Celltrion and the New Growth Fund secured a total of 47.05% of Iksuda’s shares.
As the name suggests, ADCs are pharmaceuticals that conjugate antibodies and drugs. By linking antibodies that bind to cancer antigens with cytotoxic drugs (payloads) that can kill cancer cells via a linker, ADCs can effectively deliver toxins only to cancer cells like guided missiles, making them a next-generation cancer treatment technology.
Iksuda is a company developing next-generation ADCs for the treatment of intractable cancers. It possesses an ADC platform with antibody engineering technology and next-generation mechanisms of action including linker-payloads.
Celltrion views the ADC field as capable of generating high added value and synergizing with existing antibody therapeutic products, selecting ADCs as one of its new growth engines and proceeding with investment and collaboration. Having already secured cancer antibody therapeutics such as the hematologic cancer treatment ‘Truxima,’ breast and gastric cancer treatment ‘Herzuma,’ and metastatic colorectal cancer treatment ‘Vegzelma,’ it is expected that various anticancer drugs can be developed in the future using ADC platform technology.
A Celltrion official stated, "Celltrion is actively pursuing collaboration and investment with various biotechs that possess technology and platforms," adding, "We plan to make multifaceted efforts to increase our influence in the ADC therapeutic field, which has recently been attracting global attention."
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