LigaChem Biosciences announced on the 26th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for expanded collaboration with China's Wuxi XDC to develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Wuxi XDC is a company established through a joint venture between Wuxi Biologics and Wuxi STA, providing contract research and development (CRDMO) services centered on bioconjugates. ADC technology attaches a drug to an antibody that binds to cancer cells, allowing for precise drug delivery. Under the agreement, LigaChem plans to shorten the candidate substance discovery period by utilizing Wuxi XDC's research personnel and systems.
JLK announced on the 26th that its medical artificial intelligence (AI) integrated platform has received 510(k) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA 510(k) certification verifies that the device has greater effectiveness and safety than a previously marketed device. The product approved by the FDA is an AI integrated software platform that enables medical imaging management and data analysis to be processed in one place. It supports various medical imaging analysis and storage, visualization, and mobile communication. With this approval, JLK has secured a total of six FDA approvals.
Y-Biologics announced on the 26th that it signed a contract for joint research on antibody-degrading drug conjugates (DAC) with Ubix Therapeutics, a company specializing in new drug development based on targeted protein degradation technology. The core of this research is to develop DAC drugs that combine antibodies discovered by Y-Biologics with Ubix Therapeutics' targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology. DAC is a new technology that combines TPD with ADC, delivering TPD instead of drugs attached to an antibody. TPD treats diseases by breaking down proteins that cause diseases using low molecular compounds, minimizing toxicity while accurately delivering drugs to targets inside cells to kill cancer cells.
Seegene announced on the 26th that it has signed an equity acquisition contract with the custom automation equipment company DandiMeca. Established in 2010, DandiMeca possesses robotics automation solution technology. Seegene has launched its automated molecular diagnostic testing system, Seegene AIOS, in the global market, and through this acquisition, it plans to accelerate the development of next-generation diagnostic equipment that is differentiated from existing devices, including AIOS. Seegene aims to provide a system that fully automates the entire process of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology to laboratories worldwide tailored to their needs. It plans to unveil the system at the '2025 American Association for Diagnostic Laboratory Medicine (ADLM 2025)' in July in Chicago.
Lunit announced on the 26th that it has appointed Craig Hadfield, former chief customer financial officer (CCFO) at Volpara Health, as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of its U.S. subsidiary, Volpara Health. Hadfield joined Volpara in 2016 and has played a key role in the company's growth as a financial controller (FC), chief financial officer (CFO), and CCFO over the past nine years. Before joining Volpara, he worked at global accounting firms Ernst & Young (EY) and Deloitte. After joining Volpara, he led the transition to a subscription-based software as a service (SaaS) revenue model and was instrumental in Lunit's acquisition of Volpara, currently continuing to lead the post-merger integration (PMI) efforts.
AI-based digital pathology specialist DeepBio announced on the 26th that its AI companion diagnosis (CDx) platform, DeepCDxⓡ, has obtained trademark rights from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on the 18th. DeepCDx precisely distinguishes effective patient populations for new drugs, maximizing therapeutic effects while minimizing side effects from medication. It enables the early identification of patient populations that can benefit from targeted cancer therapies by discovering new biomarkers from large-scale clinical trials, multi-omics, and imaging data while deriving essential data for predicting new drug efficacy.
HEM Pharma announced on the 26th that findings from its research identifying serum metabolite biomarkers for early diagnosis and subtyping of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been published in the international journal Scientific Reports. This research focused on diagnosing IBD through serum metabolomic analysis and identifying specific biomarkers that distinguish Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis. The company explained that based on non-targeted and targeted metabolite analyses conducted on serum samples from 346 participants, it was confirmed that IBD patients can be clearly distinguished from normal controls.