Abion Selected as Final Winner in 'AstraZeneca K-Bio Expressway' Pitching Competition

Abion announced on the 26th that it was selected as the final winning company at the pitching event of the 'AstraZeneca K-Bio Expressway,' hosted by AstraZeneca Korea and sponsored by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI).

Shaun Grady, Senior Vice President of AstraZeneca Global Business Development, and Junyoung Choi (right), Vice President of Abion. Photo by Abion

The award ceremony for the winning company was held in conjunction with the '2024 Global Open Innovation Week' at EL Tower in Seoul. The event was attended by 11 global pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Amgen, and Roche. Abion conducted one-on-one business partnering meetings with these global pharmaceutical companies. During the partnering sessions, they had in-depth discussions on practical collaboration plans such as joint research and technology transfer, and shared the latest information related to new drug development.

Choi Jun-young, Vice President of Abion, said, "We are pleased and honored to be selected as the winning company among highly competitive bio companies," adding, "We will strengthen open innovation cooperation with AstraZeneca and leap forward into the global market."

At the pitching, Abion presented ABN202 and ABN501, both based on antibody technology. ABN202 is an antibody-cytokine fusion protein that fuses interferon-beta variants with tumor-targeting antibodies, altering the tumor microenvironment to maximize anticancer effects.

ABN501 is the world's first Claudin3 antibody therapeutic. Claudin3 is an anticancer target that is specifically overexpressed in cancer cells and exposed on the surface differently from normal tissues. Therefore, ABN501 is an innovative anticancer drug that can demonstrate excellent efficacy in various solid tumors while minimizing effects on normal cells.

Among 28 domestic companies that pre-registered for the pitching session, 8 outstanding companies participated in a closed presentation, and Abion was selected as the final winning company. The winning company benefits include AstraZeneca’s ▲opportunity to tour the iCampus, an international life sciences innovation hub campus in China ▲a prize of 25 million KRW ▲consulting support for overseas market entry strategies and channel development ▲and consulting linked to KHIDI’s startup nurturing support projects.

In 2023, Abion was selected as a resident company for the open research and development (C&D) incubation office within the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Boston, USA, as part of KHIDI’s K-Blockbuster global expansion support project. Utilizing the Boston network, Abion is actively pursuing entry into the U.S. market.