Behind the dazzling advances of modern medicine lies a little-known scene: thousands of living horseshoe crabs are strapped into frames, needles are inserted into their hearts, and their "blue blood" is drawn.
From the vaccines and antibody therapies we receive every day to fillers, Botox, and implantable medical devices, the key ingredient that tests the safety of almost everything that enters the human body is LAL (Limulus amebocyte lysate), which comes from the blood of these horseshoe crabs. It is no exaggeration to say that if horseshoe crabs go extinct, the global pharmaceutical production system could be paralyzed.
At a research lab in Seoul's Guro District, Cho Geon-sik, CEO of CellWeavers, told ChosunBiz that this scene shows "a precarious dependency for human survival." Cho said, "If the semiconductor industry has a rare earth supply chain risk, the bio industry has a raw material supply bottleneck that depends on a specific animal," adding, "CellWeavers aims to redesign the bio raw material supply system through cell culture technology."
In fact, technologies to replace bleeding horseshoe crabs, such as recombinant factor C (rFC), are already commercialized. But adoption has been limited in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
Because its composition and mechanism of action differ from the conventional method, applying it requires additional validation of the entire new drug development process. For manufacturers, the time and expense burden is inevitably high.
CellWeavers chose a new approach: extracting cells from horseshoe crabs and culturing them. This is the so-called C-LAL (cell-based LAL). Cho said, "Because it preserves the horseshoe crab blood components and the toxin (endotoxin) detection mechanism as is, it can be introduced without changing the process."
For the same reason, it is relatively advantageous in meeting regulatory requirements, the company said. Cho said, "We plan to target the European market first, where animal welfare regulations are the strictest."
C-LAL is also evaluated as meaningful because it can reduce the "quality variability" problem inherent in the conventional approach.
Cho said, "Horseshoe crabs differ in their sensitivity to toxins from individual to individual, and even the same individual can show different responsiveness depending on when the blood is collected," adding, "Currently, a method of mixing the blood of multiple individuals to average out the values is used."
CellWeavers selected only the most responsive cells and established them as a cell line. Because the same cell line is then cultured to produce the raw material, the company said it can supply a standardized product that maintains a consistent sensitivity throughout the year.
Cho said, "In evaluations by the Korea Institute of Toxicology (KIT), we confirmed sensitivity equal to or greater than that of commercial test kits," adding, "In the past, cell lines had the limitation of dying out quickly, but recent advances in stabilization and culture process technologies have brought us to a level where commercialization is possible."
The global endotoxin testing market is currently estimated at about 4 trillion won. Although the price of 1 liter of horseshoe crab blood reaches about 20 million won, there are constraints on expanding supply due to catch limits.
Cho said, "If a mass production system based on cell culture is established, the market size could expand two to three times," adding, "We aim to capture about 40% of the total market within 10 years."
To commercialize C-LAL in 2027, CellWeavers is discussing collaboration with companies including the French in vitro diagnostics company bioMérieux. Starting in 2028, the company plans to expand its business beyond supplying raw materials to developing and selling endotoxin test kits.
CellWeavers is also accelerating the development of additional pipelines. The company plans to culture cells to produce the raw material for the blood anticoagulant heparin.
Heparin is an essential medicine designated by the World Health Organization (WHO), and about 90% of the global supply depends on pig-derived raw materials. However, structural instability has been noted, as raw material prices fluctuate sharply whenever livestock diseases such as African swine fever (ASF) spread.
Cho said, "We have secured two mast cell lines that produce heparin," adding, "We signed a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with the Netherlands drug developer Matis Pharmaceuticals and are preparing a material transfer agreement (MTA)."
The production strategy is also taking shape. Cho said, "We are pushing to build a dedicated production facility in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, where our headquarters is located, and recently submitted the related plan to the local government." The site will serve as a key base responsible for producing major pipelines, including C-LAL raw materials and endotoxin test kits.
Cho said, "We aim to achieve sales of at least 100 billion won in 2030," adding, "Based on that, we plan to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) and global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) through strategic partnerships." CellWeavers is currently raising a pre-Series A round.