Curocell to localize blood cancer drug by 2025

South Korean biotech company Curocell Inc. on Sunday said it will apply for approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in September next year for Anbal-cel, a candidate chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. 

CAR-T treatment is an immunotherapy drug that manipulates a patient's immune (T) cells to target those of cancer to remove the latter.

The CAR-T era began in 2017, when the US Food and Drug Administration approved the Novartis treatment Kymriah, which earned praised as a “dream anti-cancer medicine” after curing blood cancer patients with just one dose.

Kymriah is the lone CAR-T treatment approved in South Korea, but the medication period takes over two months because a patient's blood must be collected and sent to the US for T-cell manipulation and culturing. The cost is also a staggering 360 million won ($266,101).

Established in 2016, Curocell conducts domestic manufacturing and possesses its own know-how to shorten the incubation period.

“We recently made our final patient administration to conclude Phase 2 clinical trials for Anbal-cel,” CEO Kim Geon-soo said. “Its official launch is slated for July 2025 after approval is received from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.”

The company forecast sales Anbal-cel at 14.4 billion won in 2025, 114.1 billion won in 2026 and 150.8 billion won in 2027. Its plants include one completed last month in Daejeon that is certified for good manufacturing practice that can supply treatments for 700 patients per year.

Curocell also has 11 candidate pharmaceuticals in addition to Anbal-cel.

In the middle of next month, the biotech company will get listed on the junior stock market Kosdaq through a special technology listing. General subscription is scheduled for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

Write to Young-Ae Lee at 0ae@hankyung.com