Samyang Holdings and mCureX to Co-develop an mRNA Vaccine for COVID-19

On Jun 8, 2021

Samyang Holdings signed an MOU to co-develop a vaccine for COVID-19 with “mCureX (CEO: Hong Sun-woo),” a subsidiary of a “OliX Pharmaceuticals (CEO: Lee Dong-ki),” a pharmaceutical company that makes gene therapy drugs.

Samyang Holdings announced on the 22nd that it signed an MOU promising technical cooperation for rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine with mCureX at the Samyang Discovery Center as of the 21st.

Jo Hye-ryeon, the Director of Samyang Biopharmaceuticals R&D Center (right) and Hong Sun-woo, the CEO of mCureX (left), signed an MOU for co-developing an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at the Samyang Discovery Center in Pangyo.

With the signing of this MOU, the two companies will cooperate to develop a drug delivery system that stably delivers messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) for COVID-19 immune response to cells.

mRNA is a genetic material that delivers information to generate a specific protein in the human body, and the COVID-19 vaccine using mRNA is in the worldwide spotlight recently. If vaccinated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, our body perceives that the COVID-19 virus has come in and shows an immune response to build immunity against the COVID-19 virus. However, since mRNA can be easily damaged by the lyase in the human body, it requires a “drug carrier” that safely protects and delivers mRNA to cells.

Samyang Biopharmaceuticals Corporation has concentrated on studying the drug delivery system (DDS) using bioabsorbable polymer and patented technologies for about 20 years. The DDS is a system that delivers drugs into the human body safely and effectively. Recently, Samyang Holdings has been focusing on developing a stable and innovative drug carrier to deliver biopharmaceuticals including hexanes such as siRNA, mRNA, and pDNA and anti-cancer viruses into the human body.

mCureX is a pharmaceutical R&D subsidiary founded by OliX, a pharmaceutical company that develops gene therapy drugs based on RNA interference platform technologies. Currently, mCureX strives to develop mRNA vaccines and medicines by recruiting global mRNA experts who participated in the development of mRNA 5’-capping applied to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines as research directors and science and technology advisors.

Hong Sun-woo, the CEO of mCureX, said, “We will try to develop a localized mRNA vaccine as quickly as possible by commencing the vaccine project in cooperation with the Samyang Biopharmaceuticals Corporation.”

Eom Tae-ung, the CEO of Samyang Holdings, said, “The Samyang Biopharmaceuticals Corporation will improve the life quality of patients by commercializing innovative medicines and contribute to overcoming the COVID-19 crisis through this technical cooperation.”