Appclon, Full-Scale Development of Next-Generation CAR-T Therapy for Solid Tumors

Appclon announced on the 14th that it has secured preclinical stage technology for CAR-T therapies targeting solid tumors following blood cancers. The company plans to strengthen research and development to cure patients with solid tumors, who have reached the limits of existing cancer treatments, with Appclon's next-generation CAR-T therapies.

Appclon is currently conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial in South Korea for its CAR-T therapy AT101 targeting blood cancers. Recently, the technology transfer to Turkey was also completed, and based on the achievements as a blood cancer treatment, the company is expanding indications to the solid tumor field.

Appclon is jointly developing a Claudin18.2-targeting CAR-T therapy with Professor Junho Jeong's research team at Seoul National University College of Medicine. This targets a protein highly expressed in hard-to-treat solid tumors such as gastric and pancreatic cancers. Existing treatments have low response rates and significant resistance issues, resulting in many unmet medical needs.

Professor Jeong's team developed Claudin18.2-specific antibodies based on VHH (single-domain antibodies) and scFv (single-chain variable fragments) obtained through special animal immunization and antibody gene technology. Appclon confirmed the preclinical potential of CAR-T therapies for solid tumors by utilizing these antibodies.

The company is also developing the next-generation switchable CAR-T therapy AT501 targeting HER2. AT501 is a platform that can precisely control CAR-T cell activation when administered together with a specific switch protein. This switch technology, which selectively tracks HER2, demonstrated excellent anticancer effects in animal models. In reactive and recurrent models, anticancer effects can be enhanced simply by re-administering the switch. The company explained that it is receiving significant interest from overseas companies and research institutes.

Appclon is also developing a CAR-T therapy targeting CD30 for patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma. This is in collaboration with Dr. Marco Ruella's research team at the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) School of Medicine. It is expected to provide a new option for patient groups unresponsive to existing treatments. The therapy is being developed as a next-generation CAR-T therapy research to overcome the tumor microenvironment (TME) by utilizing BTLA (immune inhibitory receptor) gene editing technology.

An Appclon representative stated, "We plan to continuously expand indications for hard-to-treat solid tumors by integrating antibody platform technology and cell therapy development capabilities," and added, "We will continue differentiated new drug development strategies in the global cancer treatment market and establish ourselves as a leading company in the next-generation immuno-oncology field."