On December 20, 2024 Verismo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage CAR T company developing novel KIR-CAR platform technology, reported the completion of a merger in which the company has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of HLB Innovation (KOSDAQ: 024850), a publicly traded company in South Korea and a member of the HLB Group (Press release, Verismo Therapeutics, DEC 20, 2024, View Source [SID1234649244]). The merger certificate is expected to be filed shortly.
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The merger will accelerate the clinical development of SynKIR-110 and SynKIR-310 for solid tumor and blood cancer patients, respectively, solidifying Verismo’s and HLB Group’s collective mission to advance its innovative KIR-CAR platform for patients worldwide.
"We are thrilled to take this next step with HLB Innovation as our parent company," said Bryan Kim, Chief Executive Officer of Verismo Therapeutics. "This merger not only strengthens our resources by leveraging HLB Group’s dynamic bio-ecosystem, but also enhances our ability to rapidly advance our clinical pipelines. We’re confident that with HLB Innovation’s backing, Verismo is well-positioned to bring transformative therapies to areas of unmet medical need."
The HLB Group, which has a diverse portfolio that spans biopharma, medical devices, healthcare, lifestyle, and other sectors, previously held a majority stake in Verismo. This merger aligns with HLB Group’s strategic commitment to expanding its capabilities in next-generation cell therapies.
About the KIR-CAR Platform
The KIR-CAR platform is a multi-chain CAR T cell therapy and has been shown in preclinical animal models to be capable of maintaining antitumor T cell activity even in challenging tumor microenvironments. Using NK cell derived KIR and DAP12 split signaling provides a novel combined activation and co-stimulation separate from the usual T cell stimulation pathways. It also enables sustained chimeric receptor expression and improves KIR-CAR T cell long term function. This results in prolonged T cell functional persistence and leads to regression of solid tumors in preclinical models that are resistant to traditional CAR T cell therapies.