Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Hanall Biopharma of South Korea are expanding their global open collaboration initiative by investing in Alloplex Biotherapeutics, an emerging biotechnology company based in Boston.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Hanall Biopharma announced on August 19 their investment in Alloplex Biotherapeutics by purchasing to support a potential long-term collaboration for the development of new cell therapies against cancer. Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Hanall Biopharma wish to collaborate with Alloplex to develop international networks and communication with experts in this field.

This investment will allow Alloplex to advance its first generation Suplexa therapeutic cell programme to the clinic by the first half of 2022. Suplexa therapeutic cells are a differentiated, non-engineered autologous treatment made from cells Activated and reprogrammed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from the patient's blood. Suplexa cells are generated rapidly and in abundance through a robust ex vivo manufacturing procedure in which they acquire the ability to kill all tumor cells tested without affecting normal cells. Suplexa cells consist of a heterogeneous mixture of cells of innate and adaptive phenotypes known for their antitumor activity, in particular NK, NKT cells, CTL CD8 + and T cells gd. As such, Suplexa cells employ a multimodal anti-tumor strategy composed entirely of normal immune cells activated and capable of killing all tumor cells tested. The hypothesis is that by using the patient's own cells rather than external substances, this therapy could have a very benign safety profile while maximizing anti-cancer effects.

Alloplex was founded in 2016 and is led by its scientific founder and CEO, Dr. Frank Borriello MD, PhD, a Harvard- trained immunologist with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Alloplex, he led the research and evaluation function at several pharmaceutical companies.

Seungwon Jeon , co-CEO of Hanall Biopharma, said, “It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we invest in Alloplex as they develop their unique anti-tumor immune cell treatment with the hope of improve the quality of life of cancer patients through joint investment. "