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Kim Jeongmin, CEO of DigmBio, said, "The possibility of global technology transfer for our new drug candidate DM5167↑"
Kim Jeong-min, CEO of DigmBio, disclosed the development status of the new drug candidate 'DM5167' and future technology transfer strategy at the '25th Bio Leaders Club' hosted by <News 1> on the 24th.
https://www.news1.kr/bio/general/5823598
CEO Kim said, "Currently, DM5167 is undergoing phase 1 clinical trials at major domestic hospitals, and it is competitive in terms of toxicity and brain metastasis penetration rate compared to major competing drugs," and "technology transfer may become a reality through the results of the phase 1b clinical trial targeting brain metastasis cancer patients in the first half of 2026."
DM5167 is a selective anticancer agent belonging to the PARP (Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase) family. CEO Kim explained, "Tyrosine kinase inhibitors were the first targeted anticancer drug, followed by the PARP inhibitors." He added, "While first-generation PARP inhibitors were limited to monotherapy, their combined use caused hematological toxicity, limiting market expansion." He emphasized, "DM5167 was developed to address this toxicity issue."
CEO Kim said, "Recently, there was a case where Germany's Merck paid a deposit of 230 billion won and signed a technology transfer agreement for a PARP-type candidate substance with reduced toxicity burden," adding, "This trend suggests the possibility of market expansion for PARP inhibitors."
"About half of lung and breast cancer patients develop brain metastases, and DM5167 has a 100% brain metastasis penetration rate," he said. "While its development is one to two years slower than some competing drugs, it is highly evaluated for its effectiveness in targeting brain metastasis cancer," he added.
Phase 1 clinical trial is currently underway at Seoul National University Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Yonsei University Severance Hospital, and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. The study is evaluating the drug's safety, tolerability, efficacy, and pharmacokinetic properties in 76 patients with advanced solid tumors. The study is supported by the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF).
The presentation also included an explanation of the degenerative brain disease candidate, DM3159. CEO Kim stated, "DM3159 is a dementia treatment candidate with a novel mechanism of targeting the TASR GPCR, a taste receptor." He added, "Using AI-based structural prediction technology, we precisely analyzed the GPCR structure and, based on this, derived an agonist with a binding affinity of around 100nM."
He also said, "In a dementia animal model (Morris Water Maze), we found that treated mice found the platform faster than mice in a typical dementia model," suggesting the potential for cognitive function improvement. He added, "We are currently assessing the potential for this candidate substance to expand to other central nervous system diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, ALS, and Huntington's disease."
CEO Kim said, "DigmBio's primary goal is the technology transfer of PARP anticancer drugs, and we aim to lay the foundation for expanding our pipeline into various central nervous system disease fields in the future."