이 기사는 2021년 12월 17일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

U.S.-based Adicet Bio, a portfolio company of South Korean venture capital firm DSC Investment, has laid down a marker for the nascent gamma delta CAR-T cell therapy space.

The Nasdaq-listed biotech company announced positive interim data from its dose escalation Phase 1 study evaluating the safety and tolerability of ADI-001, Adicet’s investigational therapy targeting CD20 for the potential treatment of B-cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The corporate value Adicet has increased more than 30% since DSC Investment invested in the company.

DSC Investment acquired a 2.19% stake in Adicet in March 2019 by investing $3 million through its fund focused on growth companies. DSC Investment participated in Adicet’s Series B funding round together with KB Investment, OCI Bio Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, and Handok. Adicet raised $80 million in the funding round, which valued the company at around 221.8 billion won ($1.88 million).

The investment has enabled DSC Investment to build strong relationships with global investors. Adicet’s existing investors included OrbiMed, Novartis Venture Fund, and Pontifax.

Founded in 2014, Adicet Bio is a biotechnology company discovering and developing allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapies for cancer and other diseases. The company is advancing a pipeline of “off-the-shelf” gamma delta T cells, engineered with chimeric antigen receptors and T cell receptor-like targeting moieties to enhance selective tumor targeting, facilitate innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune response, and improve persistence for durable activity in patients.

In 2020, resTORbio and Adicet Bio signed an agreement to create a combined publicly-traded biotechnology company focused on the development of Adicet’s off-the-shelf allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapies for oncology and other indications. Adicet merged with a wholly-owned subsidiary of resTORbio in an all-stock transaction, and the equityholders of Adicet became the majority owners (75%) of resTORbio’s outstanding common stock.

The latest positive interim data is heightening expectations on DSC Investment’s possible exit two years after its investment in the U.S. biotech firm. Its six-month lock-up period already ended. Adicet is expected to report additional data in the first half of 2022 and the Korean venture capital firm will start its exit process depending on the results.

CoImmune, which is also included in the DSC Investment’s biotech portfolio, is preparing for its listing on the Nasdaq next year. CoImmune is a biopharmaceutical company that develops personalized immunotherapies for cancer treatments. (Reporting by Jong-hye Lee)