"Data-Driven Collaboration Proved Key"... Genosco CEO Ko Jongsung Presents Success Story of Lazertinib

Presentation at Yuhan Corporation's 100th Anniversary Event on September 15

Highlighting Genosco's Initial Molecular Design and the 'Open Innovation' Model Spanning Yuhan Corporation and J&J

Go Jongseong, CEO of Genosco, presenting at the 100th Anniversary Symposium of Yuhan Corporation (Photo by Genosco)

"A data-driven collaborative system and bold decision-making fueled by passion proved to be key," he said.

On September 15, Ko Jongsung, CEO of Genosco, delivered a keynote at Yuhan Corporation's 100th Anniversary Symposium held at Yuhan Willow House Newsquare, sharing the journey of developing the lung cancer treatment “Lazertinib” (brand name: Leclaza). Drawing on the achievement of being the first Korean innovative anticancer drug to receive FDA approval, Ko presented an analysis on “Breakthroughs in Targeted Therapies: The Case of Lazertinib.”

As the person known as “the father of Lazertinib” for overseeing the entire process from project selection and initial design to the identification of candidate compounds, Ko highlighted that the core development strategies included enhancing blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability essential for patients with brain-metastasized lung cancer, and achieving precise selectivity for EGFR mutations while avoiding wild-type EGFR. In addition, by reducing the inhibitory activity against HER2 (ErbB2), which could be related to cardiotoxicity, the team eliminated the risk of heart toxicities often seen in competitors’ drugs.

In particular, this presentation shed light on the detailed process of the “global relay” in which each company played its own role from the identification of candidate compounds to final approval. Lazertinib was co-developed in 2014 with Genosco responsible for molecular design, candidate development, and intellectual property (IP)—its core strengths—while Oscotec contributed to pharmacokinetics and toxicity testing. Technology transfer took place to Yuhan Corporation in 2015, followed by Yuhan’s initial clinical trials and Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) global phase 3, culminating in U.S. FDA approval in August 2024.

Ko emphasized that the driving force behind Lazertinib’s establishment as a global blockbuster breaking new ground for K-Bio was the “data-driven collaboration from the earliest stages with close communication among medical field experts, shared objectives, and an optimal partnership relay spanning Genosco and Oscotec’s initial joint development, Yuhan Corporation, and finally J&J, which enabled the completion of the ‘global new drug relay.’” He also cited bold decision-making as a key to success.

Next, Professor Cho Byoungchul of Yonsei Cancer Center, who followed Ko as a speaker, recalled, “I still vividly remember the first time Dr. Ko visited me in the United States in 2013 to discuss research collaboration for candidate compounds. His faith in the potential success of Lazertinib and his sense of mission as a doctor to save lung cancer patients became the starting point that led to today’s Lazertinib.” He expressed gratitude to Yuhan Corporation’s senior management and R&D team for their determination and courage in leading Lazertinib’s global clinical development. Joshua Bauml, Vice President of Innovative Medicine at J&J, who led the global phase 3 trial, stated, “Lazertinib is the outcome of countless individuals working tirelessly in both the laboratory and clinic as a team. Thanks to everyone’s dedication toward the shared goal of improving patient treatment, we were able to complete this historic new drug relay.”

Based on such successful results, strategic investments and partnerships by multinational corporations in K-Bio are expected to accelerate further.

Meanwhile, beyond Lazertinib, Genosco also successfully out-licensed Seviodoplenib, a novel drug candidate for autoimmune diseases discovered through its proprietary research platform, to Agios Pharmaceuticals in the United States, in collaboration with Oscotec. The company is currently accelerating research and development of follow-up pipelines, actively bringing in next-generation modalities such as the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment GNS-3545, targeted protein degraders (TPDs), and degrader-antibody drug conjugates (DACs).

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