Y-Biologics, a developer of new antibody drugs, has raised KRW 37.4 billion in Series C funding. Investments were made by a total of six institutions, Daily Partners, Korea Omega Investment Corp., Smilegate Investment, Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities, DS Asset Management, and Widwin Investment. Smilegate Investment, Korea Omega, and Mirae Asset Daewoo invested in the previous round of funding.

 

Young Woo Park, CEO of Y-Biologics, said, “With the recent investments, our company will proceed with the preclinical and clinical phases of developing new monoclonal antibody drugs and bispecific antibody immunotherapy drugs in full swing. [...] At the same time, we plan on sophisticating our existing technologies, including our bispecific antibodies.”

 

Y-Biologics is focusing on the development of new immuno-oncology antibody drugs. It has more than 30 new drug pipelines in the form of mono- and bispecific antibodies. The company is conducting research on combination therapy and bispecific antibodies to increase the response rate of immuno-oncology drugs.

 

Y-Biologics is developing ALiCE (Antibody-like Cell Engager), a CD3-based bispecific antibody format. It is a drug designed to activate immune cells in the target cancer tissue, with an increased half-life and reduced toxicity compared to the existing bispecific antibodies.

By Sung Min Kim, sungmin.kim@bios.co.kr