STCube Expands Technology Transfer Collaboration at BIO USA

STCube, a company specializing in the development of immuno-oncology drugs, announced on the 23rd that it participated in the world's largest pharmaceutical and biotech partnering event, the "BIO International Convention 2025," where it shared its biomarker-based clinical strategy for Nelmastovart and engaged in discussions regarding global technology transfer.

BIO USA is a global pharmaceutical and biotech event organized by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) in the United States. Every June, major pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, investors, and research institutions from around the world gather to explore opportunities for technology collaboration and business development. This year's event was held from June 16 to 19 (local time) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

STCube held one-on-one partnering meetings with multinational pharmaceutical and biotech companies that had been scheduled in advance. The company discussed strategic cooperation plans for the global technology transfer of its first-in-class drug candidate, Nelmastovart. It also shared in-depth the recently obtained investigator-initiated clinical data in colorectal cancer and research achievements related to the BTN1A1-based biomarker.

Yoo Seunghan, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of STCube, stated, "At BIO USA, there were numerous concrete and practical requests for collaboration, particularly centered on the results of the investigator-initiated clinical trial in colorectal cancer and the newly launched biomarker-based phase 1b/2 clinical strategy." He added, "We conducted in-depth discussions on the expression patterns of BTN1A1, the immune evasion inhibition mechanism of Nelmastovart, and the BTN1A1-targeted precision clinical strategy designed based on these findings."

He emphasized, "We are concretizing business development discussions by broadly sharing meaningful safety and anti-tumor efficacy data for Nelmastovart, as well as future plans to expand indications to other solid tumors such as lung cancer."

Nelmastovart is an immune checkpoint inhibitor that precisely targets the novel immuno-oncology target BTN1A1. It possesses an immune evasion inhibition mechanism that is mutually exclusive with existing PD-1/PD-L1 therapies. BTN1A1 is known to be highly expressed in various solid tumors and is particularly closely associated with immune resistance in refractory and metastatic cancers, which are difficult to treat.

STCube is conducting a domestic phase 1b/2 clinical trial of Nelmastovart in combination with TAS-102 and Bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have undergone at least third-line treatment. On June 19, dosing began for the phase 1b cohort (at least six patients), and from phase 2 onward, only patients with high BTN1A1 expression will be selected for the biomarker-based clinical trial.