South Korea based Samsung Biologics has further expanded its partnership with STCube through an additional development and manufacturing service agreement of STM418, an anti-PD1 immuno-oncology candidate.

STM418 received much attention from the biopharma industry earlier this year upon publication in the Cancer Research Journal.

Through preliminary studies, STCube reported that STM418, which selectively masks glycosylation site N58 on PD-1, potently inhibits PD-1/PD-L1 binding to enhance anti-tumor immunity.

Under the development and manufacturing agreement, Samsung Biologics will offer full scope of CDO services from cell line development, process development, non-clinical & clinical material manufacturing, to IND submission for global clinical trials of STM418.