| Title | PharmAbcine's U.S. Subsidiary, Wincal Biopharm, Presented Preclinical Data on Eye Drops from its Proprietary OPC Platform at ARVO 2024 |
| Category | Press Release [Wincal BioPharm] |
PharmAbcine's U.S. Subsidiary, Wincal Biopharm, Presented Preclinical Data on Eye Drops from its Proprietary OPC Platform at ARVO 2024
- Presentation at ARVO 2024 gained attention as Eylea (aflibercept) eye drops demonstrated similar efficacy to intravitreal injections in animal studies.
Daejeon, South Korea, May 23rd , 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmAbcine, Inc. ("PharmAbcine" or the "Company") (KOSDAQ: 208340), a clinical-stage public company developing next generation therapeutics to treat medical unmet needs, announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Wincal Biopharm, Inc. (“WincalBio”), gained agreat attention at the world's largest ophthalmology conference, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2024 (ARVO 2024), when they presented the preclinical data of the eye drop formulation.
WincalBio revealed that currently marketed therapeutic antibodies can be delivered within the eyes using their proprietary Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) screening platform, as shown by animal studies. This innovation suggests that non-invasive eye drops could potentially replace traditional intravitreal injection methods for treating eye diseases.
The OPC screening platform was developed to identify antibody-carrier complexes capable of delivering therapeutic agents into the back of the eye, such as the vitreous, retina, and choroid, without relying on needle injections. This allows patients to administer treatment conveniently at home using eye drops. The key to this technology is finding a matching carrier to each antibody to facilitate drug delivery inside the eye.
At ARVO 2024, WincalBio gave an oral presentation that their OPC screening platform enabled the delivery of the anti-VEGF treatments, Eylea (aflibercept) and Beovu (brolucizumab), as eye drops. In a laser-induced choroid neovascularization (CNV) mouse model, the OPC eye drop formulations demonstrated significant reduction in lesion size and vascular leakage, showing similar efficacy to the intravitreal injections. This breakthrough received huge interest and enthusiasm from the meeting participants.
Dr. Venice Chiueh, Project leader and Director at WincalBio, stated that "Developing eye drop formulations is crucial for enhancing patient convenience and reducing the patient’s reluctance to receiving treatment. We are committed to achieving successful outcomes not only in upcoming primate efficacy studies but also in clinical trials."
Dr. TaeWeon Lee, Chief Scientific Officer at WincalBio, added, "These research results are expected to positively impact VC investment opportunities as well as corporate partnerships with biopharma companies with intravitreal therapeutics or planned launch of biosimilars. Our aim is to extend this innovative technology beyond the anti-VEGFantibodies to various eye disease treatments, allowing patients to receive moreconvenient and accessible care."
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About Wincal Biopharm, Inc.
Wincal Biopharm (WincalBio) is focused on developing vascular therapeutics. Our current focus is on developing eyedrop formulations for therapeutic antibodies using proprietary Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) screening platform to identify a matching antibody:carrier pair that allows therapeutic antibodies reach intraocular space including aqueous chamber, vitreous, retina and choroid, which is difficult without injection. This non-invasive eyedrop delivery of therapeutic antibodies without intravitreal injections opens up broader treatment opportunities for multiple intraocular diseases including wet AMD, DME, diabetic retinopathy, uveitis, geographic atrophy, thyroid eye disease and uveal melanoma to lower the treatment burden for both patients and clinicians. It can be used as a monotherapy with already FDA approved anti-VEGF antibodies as well as combination with other novel target antibodies including cytokine targets such as ILs (IL-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IL-18, IL-23), TNFa, TGFb, FGF, PDGF, FasL, EGFR as well as ocular cancer targets (PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA4). Currently, anti-VEGF antibody is a lead program with preclinical efficacy demonstration in mouse CNV model, and planning to do clinical studies in 2026 followed by other novel target antibody programs and combination programs. At WincalBio, our commitment to in vivo science with a needle free drug delivery underpins to improve patient's quality of life and compliance.
About OPC Platform
Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) platform is an in vivo ocular penetration screening to quickly identify a matching cargo protein to carrier formulation from our proprietary carrier library. Delivered target protein localization from cornea, anterior chamber, vitreous, retina, choroid and optic nerve can be monitored with a labeled fluorescent signal. A wide variety of large molecule therapeutic candidates including Fab, scFv, IgGs, Fc fusion proteins, recombinant proteins and growth factors can be delivered to the back of eye. Our proprietary carriers were designed to facilitate large molecules to intraocular target area.
About Aflibercept-ED (WBP-101)
Aflibercept-ED (WBP-101) is an aflibercept/OPC eyedrop formulation to target retinal area without using needles. Aflibercept has been clinically well proven anti-VEGF therapeutics with the delivery route of intravitreal injections. WBP-101 eyedrop application can significantly improve ease of use and avoid injection related issues including pain, bleeding, infection or inflammation and may improve patient adherence rate by lowering treatment related burdens. Patients can easily apply eyedrops at home, which can replace IVT injection procedures for ocular disease treatment. WBP-101 can be a primary monotherapy or can be used as a maintenance therapy after an initial IVT injection. Combination therapy is also possible by delivering different pathway blocking antibodies in a single formulation. Preclinical PoC in mouse CNV model demonstrated a comparable efficacy profile to the IVT injected.
For additional information about Wincal Biopharm, Inc., visit https://www.wincalbio.com.
PharmAbcine's U.S. Subsidiary, Wincal Biopharm, Presented Preclinical Data on Eye Drops from its Proprietary OPC Platform at ARVO 2024
Daejeon, South Korea, May 23rd , 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmAbcine, Inc. ("PharmAbcine" or the "Company") (KOSDAQ: 208340), a clinical-stage public company developing next generation therapeutics to treat medical unmet needs, announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Wincal Biopharm, Inc. (“WincalBio”), gained agreat attention at the world's largest ophthalmology conference, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2024 (ARVO 2024), when they presented the preclinical data of the eye drop formulation.
WincalBio revealed that currently marketed therapeutic antibodies can be delivered within the eyes using their proprietary Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) screening platform, as shown by animal studies. This innovation suggests that non-invasive eye drops could potentially replace traditional intravitreal injection methods for treating eye diseases.
The OPC screening platform was developed to identify antibody-carrier complexes capable of delivering therapeutic agents into the back of the eye, such as the vitreous, retina, and choroid, without relying on needle injections. This allows patients to administer treatment conveniently at home using eye drops. The key to this technology is finding a matching carrier to each antibody to facilitate drug delivery inside the eye.
At ARVO 2024, WincalBio gave an oral presentation that their OPC screening platform enabled the delivery of the anti-VEGF treatments, Eylea (aflibercept) and Beovu (brolucizumab), as eye drops. In a laser-induced choroid neovascularization (CNV) mouse model, the OPC eye drop formulations demonstrated significant reduction in lesion size and vascular leakage, showing similar efficacy to the intravitreal injections. This breakthrough received huge interest and enthusiasm from the meeting participants.
Dr. Venice Chiueh, Project leader and Director at WincalBio, stated that "Developing eye drop formulations is crucial for enhancing patient convenience and reducing the patient’s reluctance to receiving treatment. We are committed to achieving successful outcomes not only in upcoming primate efficacy studies but also in clinical trials."
Dr. TaeWeon Lee, Chief Scientific Officer at WincalBio, added, "These research results are expected to positively impact VC investment opportunities as well as corporate partnerships with biopharma companies with intravitreal therapeutics or planned launch of biosimilars. Our aim is to extend this innovative technology beyond the anti-VEGFantibodies to various eye disease treatments, allowing patients to receive moreconvenient and accessible care."
###
About Wincal Biopharm, Inc.
Wincal Biopharm (WincalBio) is focused on developing vascular therapeutics. Our current focus is on developing eyedrop formulations for therapeutic antibodies using proprietary Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) screening platform to identify a matching antibody:carrier pair that allows therapeutic antibodies reach intraocular space including aqueous chamber, vitreous, retina and choroid, which is difficult without injection. This non-invasive eyedrop delivery of therapeutic antibodies without intravitreal injections opens up broader treatment opportunities for multiple intraocular diseases including wet AMD, DME, diabetic retinopathy, uveitis, geographic atrophy, thyroid eye disease and uveal melanoma to lower the treatment burden for both patients and clinicians. It can be used as a monotherapy with already FDA approved anti-VEGF antibodies as well as combination with other novel target antibodies including cytokine targets such as ILs (IL-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IL-18, IL-23), TNFa, TGFb, FGF, PDGF, FasL, EGFR as well as ocular cancer targets (PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA4). Currently, anti-VEGF antibody is a lead program with preclinical efficacy demonstration in mouse CNV model, and planning to do clinical studies in 2026 followed by other novel target antibody programs and combination programs. At WincalBio, our commitment to in vivo science with a needle free drug delivery underpins to improve patient's quality of life and compliance.
About OPC Platform
Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) platform is an in vivo ocular penetration screening to quickly identify a matching cargo protein to carrier formulation from our proprietary carrier library. Delivered target protein localization from cornea, anterior chamber, vitreous, retina, choroid and optic nerve can be monitored with a labeled fluorescent signal. A wide variety of large molecule therapeutic candidates including Fab, scFv, IgGs, Fc fusion proteins, recombinant proteins and growth factors can be delivered to the back of eye. Our proprietary carriers were designed to facilitate large molecules to intraocular target area.
About Aflibercept-ED (WBP-101)
Aflibercept-ED (WBP-101) is an aflibercept/OPC eyedrop formulation to target retinal area without using needles. Aflibercept has been clinically well proven anti-VEGF therapeutics with the delivery route of intravitreal injections. WBP-101 eyedrop application can significantly improve ease of use and avoid injection related issues including pain, bleeding, infection or inflammation and may improve patient adherence rate by lowering treatment related burdens. Patients can easily apply eyedrops at home, which can replace IVT injection procedures for ocular disease treatment. WBP-101 can be a primary monotherapy or can be used as a maintenance therapy after an initial IVT injection. Combination therapy is also possible by delivering different pathway blocking antibodies in a single formulation. Preclinical PoC in mouse CNV model demonstrated a comparable efficacy profile to the IVT injected.
For additional information about Wincal Biopharm, Inc., visit https://www.wincalbio.com.