The company has completed a preclinical trial that has initiated last year.
Through the preclinical trials, we were able to confirm the tumor suppression effect of combination treatment with existing anticancer treatment.
With the confirmed anti-cancer effect of the company’s autologous natural killer cell treatment ‘NOVO-NK’, the company is preparing for clinical trials with a focus on lung cancer.
NK cell is an innate immune cell that can initiate a direct attack on virial or cancer cells with fast reaction time. NOVO-NK utilizes a small amount of patient’s blood to extract NK cell and the cells go through in-vitro proliferation.
The animal model used in the preclinical trial confirmed a 65-70% suppression of tumor cells with the combination treatment of NOVO-NK and Cetuximab. The model was also able to show the decrease in weight of the tumor itself.
Cetuximab binds to the epithelial cell proliferation factor receptor (EGFR) located on the cell surface to block an important pathway for cell division, suppressing tumor growth. When Cetuximab is combined with NOVO-NK, NK cells bind to Cetuximab that is bound to a tumor cell, producing a potent antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) effect that induces tumor cell death.
Utilizing the results from the preclinical trials, the company will continue its momentum to expand the applicability of NOVO-NK treatment.