[Bio Story]② Lee Sanghoon, CEO of ABL Bio: "'ABL 2.0' Proves Survival"

Interview with Lee Sanghoon, CEO of ABL Bio (Part 2)


Delaying Technology Transfer to Increase Deal Valuation

Aiming for a ‘Bio-Pharma’ Transition through Royalty Income

Lee Sanghoon, CEO of ABL Bio, stated during an interview with The Asia Business Daily at the company’s headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 26th of last month, “ABL Bio is now at the ‘ABL 2.0’ stage,” emphasizing that the company is shifting its focus from growth to survival. He explained that while the first ten years—starting in 2016 with 14 researchers, going public in just 34 months, and expanding to a company with around 120 employees—were marked by rapid external growth, the current phase requires adding ‘sustainability’ to that foundation.

Sanghoon Lee, CEO of ABL Bio, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the company headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 26th of last month. Photo by Dongju Yoon

When asked why survival takes precedence over growth, Lee said, “Growth itself is actually easier; what is truly difficult is surviving after going public by generating our own revenue.” To survive independently, the company must continuously secure technology transfer deals, ensuring the inflow of upfront payments and milestone fees. If this link breaks, the company must rely on external funding. Lee pointed out that the reason it is rare for domestic bio companies to meet the performance forecasts they submit to the stock exchange at the time of listing is this very breakdown in the technology transfer chain.

This context also explains why the core of the ABL 2.0 strategy is to “delay the timing of technology transfer.” According to Lee, while upfront payments for preclinical-stage contracts typically only reach several million dollars, transferring substances after completing Phase 1 clinical trials can bring in upfront payments exceeding 100 million dollars, as well as larger milestone fees. The plan is to increase the value of initial substances instead of selling them early and only then bring them to the negotiating table.

For this strategy to work, there must be a platform compelling enough for big pharma to wait until clinical trials are complete. ABL Bio’s weapon is its shuttle platform, ‘Grab Body-B,’ which transports drugs to the brain by crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Lee summarized the company’s competitive edge as scarcity and scalability. Scarcity is an immediate advantage; he remarked, “While Korea lags behind China in most technologies, when it comes to BBB shuttles, we are ahead of any Chinese company.” Scalability, however, is a challenge to be proven. Lee noted that neither their own insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) nor competitors’ transferrin receptors are universal for all modalities, stressing that the platform’s lifespan can only be extended by continuously releasing next-generation shuttles that surpass existing ones. This is where the next-generation strategy of broadening the range of ‘cargo’ for the shuttles begins.

The first step in this is small interfering RNA (siRNA). Lee highlighted that “IRNA faces two barriers.” While antibodies complete their role after crossing the BBB and binding to extracellular proteins, IRNA must not only cross the BBB but also enter the interior of neurons to be effective. IGF1R, he said, is more efficient at entering neurons than the transferrin receptor. Thus, as the difficulty of cargo delivery increases, ABL Bio’s shuttle becomes more advantageous. To overcome this second barrier, ABL Bio has developed modified versions of Grab Body-B with altered forms and structures. Lee described these as “shapes that even existing BBB researchers could not have imagined.” Data on these modified shuttles may be released as early as the end of this year or sometime next year, and could be immediately applied to the ongoing IRNA collaboration with Eli Lilly.

Another axis of expansion is the ‘dual shuttle’ that targets two receptors simultaneously. While competitors have used ‘CD98 HC’ to create dual shuttles, Lee pointed out that this target cannot enter neurons and can only be used for antibody delivery. In contrast, ABL Bio is developing a form that combines the transferrin receptor and IGF1R to enhance efficiency for both antibodies and IRNA. The company has already secured two versions and, using AI, has identified three or four additional shuttle targets. Although there are plans to broaden the cargo beyond antibodies and IRNA to include enzymes and proteins, due to the high burden of validation, the company is weighing options between independent development and external collaboration or licensing.

The ultimate goal ABL Bio envisions is ‘ABL 3.0.’ The company aims to secure around two substances after Phase 2 clinical trials and start receiving commercialization royalties, thus positioning itself as a ‘bio-pharma’ that bridges biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Lee cited Genentech, Amgen, and Regeneron as models. However, since the platform is handed over to partners for direct development, it is difficult to secure high royalty rates. This is why, in the next stage, he intends to move beyond simple technology transfer to joint development, thereby increasing the share of revenue. “The value of a platform increases significantly the moment it is validated in clinical trials,” he said.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.