scm logo

SCM Life Science (CEO Lee Byung-gun), a development company specializing in cell therapy, announced on the 1st that it has signed a license agreement for All Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals (Alliel), a pancreatic beta cell diabetes treatment derived from iPSC. 

SCM Life Science is attracting attention from the pharmaceutical bio industry by expanding pipelines in the field of induced pluripotent stem cells one after another in accordance with its open innovation strategy.

The contract is $750,000 (about 850 million won) based on upfront payment, and can then be increased by up to $3 million (about 3.4 billion won) depending on the milestone.

SCM Life Science will have exclusive domestic authority over the development, permission, production and sale of Aliel's diabetes treatment. Specifically, after constructing induced pluripotent stem cells by applying mRNA source technology, it contains a technology that creates pancreatic beta cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells using tissue-specific cell differentiation technology and develops them as type 1 and type 3 diabetes treatments. Earlier in 2019, the two companies signed a joint R&D agreement for the pipeline, which finally paid off over two years.

Bioventure Allial, located in San Diego, USA, has been producing high-quality tissue-specific cells by applying mRNA source technology to induced pluripotent stem cells since 2009. Alliel also has a cGMP facility that can produce treatments by collecting skin cells with simple procedures from its own facility to create induced pluripotent stem cells and differentiating them into pancreatic beta cells. It is carrying out a project to build induced pluripotent stem cell lines using its own cGMP facility, and manages donor screening, tissue biopsy monitoring, and documentation based on the U.S. FDA.

If induced pluripotent stem cell-based diabetes treatments are successfully commercialized, the pain of about 400 million diabetic patients around the world will be greatly reduced and the cost burden will be reduced. An official from SCM Life Science said, "The hassle of diabetes patients having to get insulin injections at least once a day and the time and money opportunity cost due to the high cost of treatments can be greatly reduced."

According to this contract SCM Life Science will be able to expand pipelines to induced pluripotent stem cell-based treatments. SCM Life Science has been conducting research and development focusing on adult stem cells so far. Last week, it invested in Vita Theraputics, a bioventure based on induced pluripotent stem cells in the U.S., laying the foundation for securing a pipeline of rare hereditary muscle diseases, and further introduced a pipeline for diabetes treatment. In other words, SCM Life Science has upgraded its capabilities to a comprehensive cell therapy company by installing induced pluripotent stem cell technology in addition to global adult stem cell technology.

In the background of rapid business expansion, there are innovative growth and open innovation strategies that SCM Life Science has been continuously pursuing. The plan is to focus on research on adult stem cells with strengths and quickly secure excellent external pipelines through external equity investment, joint research, and mergers and acquisitions.

SCM Life Science, together with Genexine, acquired Coimmune, a bio-venture for the development of immuno-oncology drugs in the United States in 2019 and by acquiring Italian bio-venture Formula through Coimune again, it has a pipeline of immune cell therapy in various fields, including metastatic kidney cancer treatment and acute lymphocytic leukemia treatment "CAR-CIK." In addition, since 2018, it has been conducting stem cell-based cell sheet research in collaboration with Utah University and has been prominent in the field of tissue engineering.