On August 9, 2024 C&Cure (CEO Min Jeong-jun and Park Jung-gon), an anticancer drug development company in Gwangju Metropolitan City, reported the company has developed a new concept of immunotherapy using bacteria for treating cancer (Press release, CNCure, AUG 9, 2024, View Source [SID1234649035]).

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According to C&Cure on the 9th, the company created bacteria for treating cancer by genetically engineering salmonella, E. coli, and Vibrio.

The independently developed salmonella strain has removed more than 70 genes that are harmful to the human body, reducing toxicity by more than 1 million times.

The company explains that this non-toxic salmonella has a strong affinity for cancer tissue.

When injected into the body, it has the characteristic of overproliferating in cancer tissue by more than 100,000 times more than in normal tissue.

The C&Cure research team genetically engineered the non-toxic salmonella to produce cytolysin A, a cell-lytic protein of E. coli, and flagellin B, a flagellar protein of Vibrio, in cancer tissue.

A company official said, "As a result of experiments on mouse models transplanted with various types of cancer, the fused salmonella dramatically changed the cancer immune microenvironment and caused an anticancer immune effect," adding, "It suggested that it can effectively treat not only primary cancer but also metastatic cancer."

With this technology, C&Cure is going through the clinical trial new drug approval process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ). It is also conducting mammalian toxicity tests in accordance with standards. CEO Min Jeong-jun, director of Chonnam National University Hospital in Hwasun, and Professor Hong Young-jin of Chonnam National University College of Medicine, chief technology officer, conducted this research with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Immunotherapy Innovation Platform Project and mid-level research project.