■ Celltrion will take part in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry exhibition CPHI Worldwide 2025, to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, from the 28th to the 30th, to step up efforts to strengthen global partnerships. Marking its 36th edition this year, CPHI is a pharmaceutical and biotech industry exhibition that brings together industry experts from more than 170 countries, totaling over 60,000 attendees. The company will set up a large standalone booth of about 202 square meters (about 61 pyeong) along the main corridor of the venue. The booth will also include a dedicated meeting room and an open meeting space. This year, the company expanded its portfolio by launching new biosimilar products for autoimmune diseases, bone diseases, and skin diseases in the global market. The company said it plans to work with competitive global partner companies to improve supply stability and strengthen sales and marketing capabilities.
■ Shaperon said on the 24th that three core technologies related to its immune-oncology drug candidate Papiliximab have been decided for registration by the Japan Patent Office (JPO). The registered patents are substance patents for a CD47 single-domain antibody, a PD-L1 single-domain antibody, and a PD-L1·CD47 bispecific antibody construct. Through this, the company secured rights in Japan to the world's first NanoMab-based PD-L1×CD47 bispecific antibody platform and, following Korea, obtained exclusive rights in Japan until 2042. The company is expanding patent applications to major markets including the United States, Europe, and China. It plans to further broaden the scope and duration of rights by adding use patents and epitope patents going forward.
■ Peptron said on the 24th it has shipped from its plant the first commercial production batch of LoopOne, a once-monthly, long-acting therapy for prostate cancer and precocious puberty administered as a single dose and effective for one month. The drug was developed using the company's long-acting drug delivery platform SmartDepot. Among leuprorelin formulations launched in Korea, it is the only one to have demonstrated bioequivalence to Lupron, the original product from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical. The company began commercial production of LoopOne at its Osong Bio Park facility in North Chungcheong Province and expects to generate sales by selling LoopOne starting in the fourth quarter of this year. The product will be supplied to medical institutions nationwide through LG CHEM, which holds the exclusive domestic distribution rights under a licensing agreement with the company.
■ Chong Kun Dang said on the 24th it has launched Dermagram PDRN Cream and Dermagram Soft Capsules, over-the-counter medicines for skin diseases. Dermagram PDRN Cream is a cream-type treatment with PDRN (polydeoxyribonucleotide), an ingredient that helps regenerate skin tissues, as its main component. It provides nourishment to areas prone to wounds and ulcers due to a lack of nutrients in the skin and connective tissues. It is available in two sizes, 10 g and 30 g, and contains no added steroids, artificial fragrances, antibiotics, or colorants, making it safe to use.
■ Daewoong Bio, a brain health–focused company, said on the 24th that Cerebrain injection, a treatment for improving brain dysfunction, is leading the domestic market as its sales have surpassed imports of the original drug. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Cerebrain's production performance reached 6.1 billion won, exceeding the 5.6 billion won in imports of the original drug. Since its official launch in 2021, Cerebrain has maintained growth, with an average annual growth rate of about 78.8% through last year. Daewoong Bio is targeting 8 billion won in sales this year and 10 billion won next year. Adoption is expanding across major tertiary general hospitals, increasing the number of prescribing institutions. Cerebrain is an injectable drug containing pig brain peptides, and the company said it is effective for senile dementia (Alzheimer's and vascular dementia), brain dysfunction after stroke, and traumatic brain injury (concussion, cerebral contusion). Pig brain peptide is a peptide purified from proteins extracted from pig brains and is an animal-derived drug developed in Europe.
■ Qurient, a new drug development company, said on the 24th that from the 22nd to the 26th (local time) it presented a dual-payload Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) and a new payload platform at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference 2025, co-hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). The company unveiled for the first time preclinical efficacy and safety data for QP101, a HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor)–targeted dual-payload ADC. QP101 is the world's first HER2-targeted dual-payload ADC carrying two payloads: a CDK7 inhibitor (CDK7i) and a topoisomerase I inhibitor (TOP1i). The company said QP101, while carrying only one-quarter the amount of TOP1i payload compared with Enhertu, a commercialized ADC anticancer drug, showed superior efficacy to Enhertu in an Enhertu-resistant model.
■ Voronoi Inc. said on the 24th that it presented clinical trial data for its anticancer drug candidate VRN11 at AACR-NCI-EORTC 2025. According to key clinical results disclosed by the company, partial responses (PR) were observed in three of four patients (75%) with EGFR C797S–mutant non-small cell lung cancer. A disease control rate (DCR) was seen in all 11 patients (100%) with brain metastasis (BM) or leptomeningeal metastasis (LM). Based on these results, the company said it plans to proceed with phase 1b/2 cohorts targeting patients with EGFR C797S mutations.