Samsung Bioepis Co., a biopharmaceutical research and development unit under South Korea’s Samsung Group, said Tuesday that it has signed a joint research agreement with IntoCell Inc., a local bio company, to verify candidate substances in the field of antibody drug conjugate (ADC).

ADC is a type of anticancer drug that chemically combines antibodies and drugs (payload) with a connecting substance called a linker.

IntoCell, founded in 2015, is a biopharmaceutical R&D company specializing in ADC and other biomedicines, using its proprietary linker and drug technologies.

Under the agreement, IntoCell will provide linker and drug technologies to Samsung Bioepis and Samsung Bioepis will manufacture ADCs for up to five anticancer target substances to evaluate their characteristics.

Samsung Bioepis will also verify IntoCell’s ADC technology competitiveness, including through animal experiments, and depending on the results, the two companies will exercise their development options or discuss further detailed matters.

Details on the size and duration of research agreement were not disclosed.

“We are looking forward to collaborating with IntoCell, which has excellent technology in the field of linkers and drugs, which are core technologies for ADCs,” said a senior official from Samsung Bioepis. “We signed this agreement as part of our efforts to explore various new business opportunities to address unmet patient needs based on our development capabilities accumulated in the biosimilars business.”

“We believe that Samsung Bioepis’ rich experience and rapid development capabilities and IntoCell’s novel linker and drug technologies are the best combination to maximize synergies,” said Park Tae-kyo, founder and chief executive officer of IntoCell. “We will do our best to achieve successful results.”

By Pulse

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