Curocell, Korea’s first developer of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, said Monday it attracted investment of 44 billion won ($37.1 million).

Curocell plans to begin the clinical trials of CAR-T therapy, “CRC01,” within this year and speed up developing follow-up pipeline based on the successful drawing of investment.

Curocell recently drew $37 million in investment and plans to begin the clinical trials of CAR-T therapy. (Curocell)

The company is about to conduct the first domestic clinical of CAR-T targeting lymphoma patients using the next-generation CAR-T cell therapy applied with OVercome Immune Suppression (OVIS) platform technology that can overcome immunosuppression.

Curocell and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology co-developed the OVIS technology. It is a technology that can be applied to CAR-T cell therapy for various solid cancers, including blood cancer.

Curocell completed building the latest good manufacturing practice (GMP) facility with a space of 520 square meters for producing immune cell therapy inside the Research Institute for Future Medicine of Samsung Medical Center. The company is also pushing for the clinical trials of CAR-T jointly with medical teams of Samsung Medical Center for the first time in the nation.

“We are about to start a clinical trial of a next-generation CAR-T therapy that can overcome the limits of existing treatments. Although the development of domestic CAR-T therapy is behind those of the U.S. and Europe, I believe that we can outrun leading global companies with our differentiated technology,” Curocell CEO Kim Gun-soo said. “We appreciate the investors who believed and invested in our vision and capabilities, and will do our best to meet their expectations.”

Since its establishment in 2017, Curocell has lured investment totaling 61.5 billion won, including the 44 billion won in the latest series.

Among the investors this time around are STIC ventures, Atinum Investment, DS Asset Management, Seoul Investment Partners, IMM Investment, Aju IB Investment, Ulmus Investment, LB Investment, Yukyung PSG Asset Management, JX Partners, Company K Partners, K2 Investment Partners, QUAD Investment Management, and Hana Ventures took part in the investment.

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