Matica Bio Labs, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) subsidiary of CHA Biotech, said on the 10th that it signed a contract to manufacture clinical trial drugs for immuno-oncology corporations Ticaros. The company did not disclose the contract amount.
Under the contract, Matica Bio Labs will produce and supply the clinical trial drug for "TC091," a solid tumor-targeting CAR-T Therapy that Ticaros is developing. CAR-T treatment modifies a patient's immune cells to attack cancer cells directly.
TC091 applies the CLIP CAR (Clamping-based Immune Synapse Potentiating CAR) technology, Ticaros' proprietary platform, and aims to improve tumor-killing ability and stability at the same time.
From the nonclinical research stage, it was selected for the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF) new drug candidate research project, the 2024 Korea Drug Development Fund "R&D ecosystem building research project," and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's "Bio Challenger Program" in July this year.
Chang Won-gyu, CEO of Matica Bio Labs, said, "We expect significant synergy by combining Ticaros' innovative solid tumor CAR-T technology with Matica Bio Labs' process development and manufacturing capabilities," and added, "Starting with this project, we will further expand our CDMO business in the field of solid tumor cell therapies."
Matica Bio Labs is a CDMO specializing in cell and gene therapies (CGT) and changed its name from CHA Bio Lab, which was established through partitioning from CHA Biotech in 2018. CHA Biotech has built a global network in the United States, Japan, and Korea, and is pursuing a strategy under the CDMO specialty brand "Matica Bio." Matica Bio Labs handles the domestic business, while Matica Biotechnology in the United States handles the North American and global businesses.
Matica Bio Labs said that in addition to this contract, it is negotiating CDMO contracts with multiple corporations and aims to sign two to three additional deals within the year.