PharmAbcine Inc, a clinical-stage biotech company focusing on the development of fully human antibody therapeutics, announced that the company has entered into a research collaboration agreement with LegoChem Biosciences Inc a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the research and development of ADCs (Antibody-Drug Conjugates) in South Korea.

Under the agreement, PharmAbcine will provide PMC-403, a preclinical pipeline, to LCB so LCB can conduct a combination research using PMC-403 and LCB's proprietary ADC. This preclinical study will allow both parties to evaluate the efficacy of the combination therapy in solid tumours.

Dr Yong Zu Kim, CEO & President, LegoChem said "Currently, our company is widening the development areas such as monoclone antibody-ADC, which is being mainly developed, as well as bispecific antibody-ADC and combination therapy with various drugs. With this agreement, we will try to secure an additional high value-added pipeline by confirming the possibility of combination therapy with our ADC candidates and PharmAbcine's drug.”

"We are excited about this agreement with LegoChem Biosciences, a global leader in ADC. We have been emphasising wide application of PMC-403 to potential partners and investors in recent months," said Dr Jin-San Yoo, CEO, PharmAbcine. "This agreement marks an important milestone in exploring the full potential of PMC-403.”

PMC-403, a Tie2-activating antibody, is a next generation therapeutic antibody that regulates the formation of functional blood vessels. It is expected to induce normalisation of leaky blood vessels formed around tumour mass in a ligand-independent manner. It has demonstrated its anti-tumour effect in a mouse model for colon cancer, corroborated by the improvement in immune cell infiltration and delivery of anti-cancer agents to a tumour site when administered as a single agent or as a combination therapy regimen.

PMC-403 also stabilises and repairs damaged blood vessels in non-oncology indications. PharmAbcine is currently developing PMC-403 for ophthalmology indications such as AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration).