Panolos Bioscience, attracts KRW 20 billion Series A investment

On May 17, 2021 Panolos Bioscience, a protein structure-based new drug development company, reported on the 17th that it has attracted 20 billion won in Series A investment (Press release, Panolos Bioscience, MAY 17, 2021, View Source [SID1234633687]).

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A total of five companies participated in the investment, including strategic investor OCI, Cloud Ivy Investment, UTC Investment, K-Clavis Investment, and JL Partners, and attracted a cumulative investment of 31.5 billion won in 19 months since its establishment in September 2019. .

Using this investment as a stepping stone, Panolos plans to enter phase 1 clinical trials in the first half of 2022 for PB101, a core pipeline that has completed the development of mass production processes with Samsung Biologics, develop additional pipelines, and expand manpower and facilities.

Panolos is developing new biotherapeutics by utilizing αART (Anti-angiogenesis-based Artifact Re-targeting Tri-specifics platform), a proprietary multi-specific drug generation platform. It can reduce the side effects of single-target protein therapeutics and is a platform with excellent potential for expanding new drug pipelines through multiple targeting.

‘PB101’, a next-generation anti-cancer drug candidate based on the αART platform, is an all-family of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) (VEGF-A, VEGF-B, Placental Growth Factor) that is excessively produced around cancer cells. targets and inhibits the growth of cancer cells. Unlike conventional VEGF-inhibiting therapeutics that target only a portion of VEGF, it blocks all delivery pathways to reduce drug resistance and increase efficacy.

The αART platform has excellent productivity and stability, so it can be used as a multi-target protein platform to attach several verified active targets, which can be expanded to various therapeutic areas.

Panolos is actively expanding joint research and development using the αART platform. The company is conducting joint research with NeoImmuneTech, which develops next-generation immunotherapeutic drugs, TerraImmune, which develops autoimmune disease treatments, and Scripps Korea Antibody Research Institute.

Hyeseong Lim, CEO of Panolos, said, "Based on our expertise in protein structure analysis, we have conducted R&D with a focus on minimizing the probability of failure with a design that considers effectiveness, stability, and productivity from the candidate material development stage, and is exceptionally fast as a bio venture. "Through the development of PB101, we plan to prove the potential of the αART platform technology and expedite the expansion of the multi-target pipeline by expanding collaboration with our partners," he said.

Panolos was founded in September 2019 by CEO Lim, who has extensive experience in engineering and process development of protein therapeutics. Former Vice President of OCI Choi Soo-jin, who recently served as MD of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, joined as CEO, and Lim and CEO Lim switched to their own representative system. With the joining of CEO Choi, who has been active in the pharmaceutical industry and the government, it is expected that the company’s operations, including new drug development, will be on a growth track.