SBiomedics (Co-CEOs Kang Se-il and Kim Dong-wook) announced on the 17th that its patent for the development of a cell therapy agent for treating retinal damage (Title of the invention: Method for inducing the production of retinal outer layer cells from stem cells and composition for preventing or treating retinal diseases containing cells produced thereby) has been registered in Japan.
This technology is a technology that can simultaneously create and transplant retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE), which are the main components of the retina and cause vision loss when damaged, and photoreceptor cells. The two types of cells can be differentiated and produced from pluripotent stem cells such as embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells. In addition to the Japanese patent registration decision, registration examinations are in progress in Korea, the United States, Europe, Canada, China, Russia, Australia, India, and Hong Kong.
Diseases caused by damage to retinal pigment epithelial cells or visual cells include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinitis pigmentosa, and cone-rod dystrophy (CRD). Since these retinal cells do not regenerate spontaneously when damaged, vision is gradually lost as the disease progresses, eventually leading to blindness. In the case of age-related macular degeneration, which has the largest number of patients, the incidence increases rapidly with age, and the prevalence rate is reported to be 1 in 5 people over 60 years of age, so it is a disease in which the number of patients increases rapidly as the society ages.
Since the damaged cells that cause the disease are clear and the route for cell transplantation is relatively less risky, clinical research is currently active, and most research is being conducted in the direction of transplanting only differentiated retinal pigment epithelial cells. SBiomedics' technology is differentiated from existing technologies in that it is a technology that can simultaneously differentiate and produce visual cells in addition to retinal pigment epithelial cells, and can secure both major component cells that are key to retinal damage treatment.
SBiomedics is conducting clinical trials of cell therapy for intractable diseases such as Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and severe limb ischemia, and is positioning itself as a leading company in the field of cell regeneration therapy. It is also implementing a strategy to expand its capabilities worldwide through future global clinical trials. The technology that has been decided to be registered this time is a technology that can add a sensory disease pipeline to the existing pipeline, and it can be said that it has secured a foundation for expanding its business areas and marketability in the future.
Dr. Myung-soo Jo, head of the SBiomedics Research Institute, stated his plan, saying, “Based on our current technology, we will continue to develop treatments that are more differentiated and have maximum efficacy by incorporating technologies such as 3D and gene editing. We also plan to secure global intellectual property rights for the technologies being developed to increase their economic value and preempt the market.”
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