AbClon (CEO Lee Jong-seo) has received final patent registration from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its "core technology related to CD30-targeting CAR-T therapy." The achievement marks the fruit of joint research with the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), a global mecca for CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) research.
AbClon said Friday that it recently received final patent registration for its "core technology related to CD30-targeting CAR-T therapy" from the USPTO.
The company said the patent is evaluated as an achievement officially recognizing its technological maturity at the highest global level, given that it was listed as a "co-patent holder" through joint research with UPenn — the institution that created the world's first CAR-T therapy, "Kymriah," and boasts the top authority in the field.
CAR-T therapy, which has recently been changing the paradigm of cancer treatment, is a customized therapy that genetically enhances a patient's immune cells to snipe cancer cells. It recognizes and tracks specific proteins on the surface of cancer cells, and the target of this technology is the "CD30" protein. AT101, for which AbClon recently completed recruitment of subjects for a domestic Phase 2 clinical trial and expects to complete dosing within this month, targets CD19.
The newly registered patent concerns a novel antibody that precisely strikes the "CD30" protein, which is distinctly overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells in patients with malignant lymphoma including Hodgkin's lymphoma, and next-generation CAR-T treatment technology applying it. CD30 has an extremely low expression rate in normal cells, so targeting it enables ideal customized treatment that selectively and powerfully destroys only cancer cells while minimizing damage to normal cells.
The reason this U.S. patent acquisition is drawing attention from the global bio industry lies in the "original differentiation" of the antibody AbClon discovered. The antibody is designed to recognize a new epitope (antigen-binding site) entirely different from existing CD30-targeting antibodies. Through this differentiated mechanism, it can present a new paradigm of treatment alternative to refractory cancer patients who do not respond to existing therapies or have developed resistance.
"The close cooperation with UPenn, which has world-class CAR-T research personnel, has been proven for its originality and exclusive rights through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office," an AbClon official said. "Starting from this global intellectual property acquisition, we will develop the research and development of the CD30 CAR-T pipeline with speed, while also working to realize the technology transfer that the two institutions are discussing."
