Selvashealthcare hit the upper limit after news broke that it is discussing potential business collaboration with a major Wall Street investment firm as part of South Korea’s largest medical AI alliance led by Selvas Group including Selvas AI and Mediana.
Nibec attracted strong buying interest after releasing preclinical results showing that its small interfering RNA (siRNA) based therapy designed for long term delivery into the brain led to behavioral improvements related to Alzheimer’s treatment.
Abclon's share price also rose seemingly in response to a previously paid Pharm Edaily article being made publicly available. The report stated that royalty revenue may increase due to an expansion of indications for its out-licensed HER2 targeting antibody.
Selvashealthcare stock trend on Dec 10.(Image=MP Doctor)
◇Selvashealthcare Among Group Affiliates Rise Sharply on Collaboration News
According to MP?DOCTOR from KG?Zeroin Selvashealthcare closed at 5,620 won up 29.94% from the previous day. Group affiliates such as SelvasAI and Mediana also saw their stock prices jump by more than 20%.
The surge followed reports that U.S. listed Wall Street investment firm Dominari Holdings is in serious discussions to collaborate with the Medical AI Alliance (MAA) led by Selvas Group around its healthcare AI data platform LIFE Networks.
Some investors appeared
particularly bullish given that Dominari Holdings’ executives are reportedly closely tied to the family of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
MAA was formed with the goal of reinventing medical data infrastructure and building a next generation healthcare ecosystem. Its members include Selvas Group, Hanmiscience, HLB Global, JLK and Hancom With.
The alliance is focusing on the LIFE Networks application. LIFE Networks leverages a variety of data such as physical activity body composition and genomic information to support disease prediction diagnostics and the development of new drugs and medical devices.
It is said that in just two months LIFE Networks secured data from more than 300,000 individuals.
A Selvas Group official said it is true that “Selvas Healthcare and other affiliates are core participants of MAA.”
adding that “Mediana has begun full-scale work to build Korea’s first wearable ECG wired wireless integrated monitoring system and this combined with the growing demand in the patient monitoring device market likely acted as a synergistic factor for the stock rally.”
◇Nibec’s Positive Alzheimer’s Preclinical Results Drive Buying Interest
Nibec’s stock gained 12.70% to close at 48,350 won. The rise was fueled by encouraging preclinical data showing that nervetargeted delivery of a short interfering RNA (siRNA) via its proprietary NIPEP-TPP based brain targeting drug delivery platform (PEPTARDEL-TB3) led to improvements in Alzheimer’s related behavioral markers.
In the study the Nibec research team administered intravenously to mice a complex of PEPTARDEL-TB3 and siRNA targeting the Alzheimer’s related gene BACE1.
The siRNA distributed broadly across key brain regions including the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and midbrain and maintained detectable signal for up to seven days implying sustained brain residence.
The company explained that “this result demonstrates overcoming two of the biggest hurdles in developing treatments for brain diseases crossing the blood brain barrier and extending in brain residence time.”
They also confirmed target gene suppression in the group treated with the PEPTARDEL-TB3/BACE1 siRNA complex BACE1 mRNA and protein expression were significantly reduced.
These molecular changes translated into behavioral improvements treated mice performed better in nest-building novel object recognition and water maze cognitive tests suggesting recovery of learning and memory functions.
Nibec emphasized that the platform’s peptide based nature allows it to combine with various therapeutics not only siRNA but also antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and other next-generation RNA based drugs giving it broad potential.
Based on this preclinical success Nibec plans to expand development into a range of central nervous system indications including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and rare genetic brain disorders.
“This study was designed to validate real therapeutic potential” the company said.
“The fact that we achieved delivery deep into the brain, long-term retention, gene regulation and behavioral improvement marks a significant technical milestone.”
They added that global partnership discussions and expansion into multiple neurological indications will now proceed in earnest.
◇Abclon Gains on Expanded Indication for Licensed HER2 Antibody in Breast Cancer
Abclon’s stock rose 8.04% to 39,650 won as investors reacted to a Pharm E-Daily article previously behind a paywall that was made publicly available.
The article reported that Chinese biotech company Henlius had recently obtained approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to begin a Phase 2/3 clinical trial (IND) for HER2 positive breast cancer using HLX22 (based on AbClon’s originally licensed AC101) together with Henlius’s own ADC HLX87.
HLX22 is an antibody targeting HER2 based on AbClon’s AC101 original technology. Abclon licensed the Chinese rights in 2016 for 21.7 billion won and the global rights in 2018 for 42 billion won.
As development advances, AbClon stands to receive milestone payments and royalties on sales.
While HLX22 was initially developed for gastric cancer and Henlius completed the first patient dosing in a global Phase 3 trial for metastatic gastric cancer in the U.S. last July the NMPA approval for a HER2 positive breast cancer indication represents a major expansion into a much larger market.
The global HER2-positive gastric cancer market is estimated at about 1.4?billion dollars (2?trillion won) but the HER2 positive breast cancer market is projected to reach 10.95?billion dollars (16?trillion won) this year.
An AbClon representative said “Because HER2 positive breast cancer represents a vastly larger market than gastric cancer HLX22’s indication expansion is extremely encouraging for us. With Henlius actively pushing the combination trial the commercial potential of HLX22 is expected to increase substantially.”
