Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- MedPacto, a bio company in South Korea, aims to export technology related to its anti-cancer drug called "vactosertib" in 2021, saying the new drug would be used to develop personalized anti-cancer therapies based on biological markers. A biomarker can be a traceable substance that is introduced into an organism as a means to examine organ function or other aspects of health.

"Recently, development trends for cancer drugs have changed," MedPacto CEO Kim Seong-jin told reporters on Friday, adding the efficacy of vactosertib will be verified through clinical trials to treat a variety of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

Vactosertib is an orally bioavailable inhibitor of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta receptor type 1 (TGFBR1). Upon oral administration, vactosertib inhibits the activity of TGFBR1, which plays a key role in tumor cell proliferation. TGF-beta regulates multiple biological processes. Alterations of specific components of the TGF-β signaling pathway may contribute to a broad range of pathologies.

"We aim to export technology in 2021," Kim said. "Vactosertib will be able to resolve what was not highly therapeutic only with conventional anti-cancer drugs."

Because existing drugs only target cancers, resistance has often occurred during treatment. Kim suggests vactosertib can improve the response rate of existing immuno-cancer drugs by controlling the micro-environment around cancer.