China's GeneQuantum Healthcare, a company specializing in site-specific bioconjugation for next generation biotherapeutics, has signed an agreement with a Korean biotech company, Aimed Bio Inc., to co-develop a First-in-Class therapeutic antibody drug conjugate (ADC). 

Aimed Bio, a spin-off company from Samsung Medical Center, is focusing on developing innovative antibody-centric drugs for brain diseases with few treatment options. Additional details were not disclosed.

GeneQuantum focuses on next generation Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) development. Taking advantage of the proprietary 'Ligase Dependent Conjugation' (LDC) technology platform, which allows a site-specific conjugation of cytotoxins or other type of payloads to antibodies, the company has successfully developed a robust pipeline with more than 10 assets, with several at or approaching clinical stage. In addition to expanding the unique technology platform, the company has entered into a number of partnerships with domestic biotech/pharmaceutical companies and international partners. The growing number of partnerships speaks to the power of the GeneQuantum platform technology for not only improving key therapeutic characteristics of existing molecules, but also for creating new classes of molecules, ultimately increasing the number of available treatment options for patients worldwide.  GeneQuantum is excited about the significant potential of partnerships with business partners and will continue to expand its deal pipeline in the antibody drug conjugate (ADC) and protein therapeutic market.

The collaborating ADC is a first-in-class asset with highly differentiated antibody against a unique target, a stable linker design and a novel payload with a strong by-stander killing effect. The resulting ADC is expected to treat brain and other cancers with huge unmet needs.