Antibody drug development platform company Y-Biologics (Respective CEOs Park Young-woo and Jang Woo-ik) announced on the 26th that it has signed a contract for joint research on antibody-degrader drug conjugate (DAC) new drugs with Ubix Therapeutics (CEO Seo Bo-kwang) , a new drug development company based on targeted protein degradation technology.
This contract is an innovative new drug development project that combines the expertise of each company, and is expected to be an efficient collaboration model between a biotech specializing in antibody new drug development and a biotech specializing in targeted protein degradation. The core of this research is to develop a DAC new drug by combining the antibody discovered by Ybiologics and the targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology of Ubix Therapeutics.
Since its establishment in 2007, Wybiologics has been developing various biopharmaceutical new drug candidates on its own or jointly with domestic and international partner companies based on its own antibody discovery platform. To date, it has concluded technology transfer contracts for eight new drug candidates developed independently or jointly, and while developing a number of new drug pipelines on its own, it is also conducting several new drug joint development projects targeting various diseases, from anticancer immunotherapies using ADCs, dual antibodies, and cell therapy to autoimmune diseases.
Meanwhile, Ubix Therapeutics, a TPD new drug development company established in 2018, is a company that is rapidly growing based on its own TPD new drug discovery platform Degraducer® technology and a pipeline of multiple target protein degraders derived from it. It is recognized for its technological prowess by building partnerships with major domestic pharmaceutical companies such as SK Biopharmaceuticals and Yuhan-Yanghaeng, and recently signed a technology transfer contract worth 150 billion won with Yuhan-Yanghaeng, and successfully attracted 25.7 billion won in pre-IPO investment, and is growing with the goal of an IPO in the second half of 2025.
TPD new drugs are novel modality therapeutics that treat diseases by inducing selective degradation of intracellular target proteins. This is a next-generation technology that is gaining attention as it can target previously inaccessible disease targets and overcome drug resistance by utilizing heterobifunctional organic small molecules consisting of a target protein binding site, an E3 ubiquitin ligase binding site, and a linker connecting the two.
The DAC new drug to be developed through this study aims to remove proteins that are simultaneously involved in the proliferation of cancer cells and suppression of immune function within the tumor microenvironment. This approach is expected to maximize the anticancer effect by simultaneously controlling cancer cells and immune function with a mechanism of action that is differentiated from existing treatments, and is expected to provide a new treatment option for cancer patients.
“By combining our innovative Degraducer® technology with Wybiologics’ antibody development platform, we will be able to move one step closer to developing next-generation anticancer drugs,” said a representative of Ubix Therapeutics. “Through this collaboration, we will quickly produce development results and accelerate our entry into the global market.”
A representative of Wybiologics said, “This agreement is a meaningful contract that will allow us to take on the challenge of developing new drugs with a partner that possesses innovative platform technology in the TPD field,” and “Through the synergy of the combined expertise of both companies, we will be able to secure DAC substances with differentiated competitiveness.”
Meanwhile, Wybiologics possesses various innovative platform technologies. Representative examples include the fully human antibody library 'Ymax®-ABL', the next-generation single-domain antibody library 'Ymax®-NANO', pH-sensitive antibody discovery technology, and the T-cell dual antibody platform 'ALiCE'. In particular, it is pursuing continuous open innovation by establishing joint research partnerships in fields such as ADC, multiple antibodies, and CAR-T/NK cell therapy, including the recent DAC joint research agreement with Ubix Therapeutics.
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