Pharos iBio and Kolon Pharmaceutical are moving ahead with development of a next-generation drug targeting patients who have developed resistance to existing targeted treatments for lung cancer.
AI drug development company Pharos iBio said Sept. 2 that it signed a joint research and development agreement with Kolon Pharmaceutical’s new drug division for PHI-701, a next-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in May for the joint development of PHI-701. In June, they were selected for the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Korea Health Industry Development Institute’s “Structure-Based AI Drug Development Support Program.”
Under the agreement, the scope of cooperation will expand from early-stage candidate discovery to actual drug development. The companies will collaborate throughout the drug development process, from candidate discovery and preclinical research to future clinical development.
After selecting a candidate compound, the companies will conduct translational research to identify which patients are most likely to benefit from the treatment. They also plan to jointly develop strategies for entering clinical trials, including patient population selection and trial design, and continue their cooperation through future commercialization.
Pharos iBio will use its proprietary AI drug development platform, Chemiverse, for candidate compound design and optimization, while Kolon Pharmaceutical’s new drug division will conduct translational research supporting clinical entry, including studies to determine the drug’s mechanism of action against cancer, indication exploration and preclinical efficacy evaluations.
PHI-701 is a next-generation inhibitor targeting EGFR gene mutations, one of the major causes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It aims to overcome resistance that develops when new mutations emerge in cancer cells after treatment with existing EGFR-targeted therapies, reducing their effectiveness.
EGFR mutations are known to be relatively common among NSCLC patients in Asia, including South Korea. The development of EGFR-targeted therapies has significantly improved treatment outcomes, but resistance that causes cancer to progress again during treatment remains a challenge. As a result, competition continues to develop next-generation treatments capable of targeting resistant mutations that are not responsive to existing therapies.
Yoon Jung-hyuk, CEO of Pharos iBio, said, “As our cooperation with Kolon Pharmaceutical has advanced into a more substantive joint development phase, we will combine the research capabilities of both companies to refine PHI-701’s development strategy and accelerate subsequent development.”