Kolon Life Science Receives Patent Grant Decisions in Korea, U.S., and Australia for Gene Therapy Production Technology

Expands Patent Protection Beyond Japan, China and Canada

Kolon Life Science said on Tuesday that it had received decisions to grant patents in South Korea, the United States, and Australia for key production technology for KLS-3021, a candidate anticancer gene therapy.

The patents cover a "method for mass-producing vaccinia virus using suspension cells." The key process involves infecting HeLa S3 cells cultured in suspension with vaccinia virus at a low multiplicity of infection, then harvesting the virus after it has multiplied in the cells.

A view of Kolon Life Science's headquarters. Kolon Life Science.

Suspension cell culture is a method in which cells grow in the culture medium without attaching to the bottom of the culture vessel. Because it is subject to relatively few constraints on culture area, it can be used for large-scale production. A low multiplicity of infection (MOI) is a condition that reduces the amount of virus used for the initial infection. The virus is amplified as it multiplies in infected cells and then spreads to surrounding cells.

With these patent-grant decisions, Kolon Life Science has secured a basis for protecting the production technology in South Korea, the United States, and Australia. The company has expanded the regions covered by its patent protection beyond Japan, China, and Canada, where it already held patents. It plans to continue securing patents related to KLS-3021's therapeutic technology and production process.

KLS-3021 is an oncolytic virus-based anticancer gene therapy candidate that Kolon Life Science is developing to treat solid tumors. It uses a recombinant vaccinia virus engineered for increased selectivity for cancer cells and carries therapeutic genes including PH-20, IL-12, and sPD1-Fc. It is designed to simultaneously promote viral spread within tumors, cancer cell death, and activation of antitumor immunity.

"These patent-grant decisions are significant because they provide a basis for protecting, in key markets, the production technology that will support the successful commercialization of KLS-3021," said Lee Hanguk, CEO of Kolon Life Science. "We will continue to strengthen our patent portfolio across both therapeutic technology and production processes, solidifying the foundation for KLS-3021's global commercialization and further enhancing its competitiveness."

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