Autotelic Bio

Autotelic Bio is a South Korean biopharmaceutical company founded in 2015 that develops anti-cancer drugs designed for selective targeting. The firm's strategy involves creating innovative treatments that aim to improve efficacy and reduce the side effects associated with existing cancer therapies. Autotelic Bio's pipeline includes small molecule drugs and antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics, which work by inhibiting the production of specific proteins that cause disease.

The company was established with a board of members having 15 to 20 years of experience in various sectors of the pharmaceutical industry, including research and development and global business development. The CEO is Tae-Hoon Kim. In 2020, Autotelic Bio expanded its management team by appointing Dr. Yong-Kwan Jun as Vice President to lead clinical development and Dr. Chang-Hee Park as Director to oversee the development of ASO base technology. The company's business model focuses on commercialization, balancing the high risk of new drug development with a hybrid pipeline of drugs that can be launched more quickly. Revenue is generated through milestones and royalties from licensing agreements. For instance, a deal with Oncotelic includes potential milestone payments up to $50 million plus 15% royalties on net sales.

Autotelic Bio has established several key partnerships and secured significant funding. The company has raised a total of $18.2M over two funding rounds. A Series A round in January 2020 raised approximately ₩8 billion KRW ($5.56M USD) from investors including Mega Investment, UTC Investment, Stonebridge Ventures, Aju Pharm., and KODIT. This was followed by a Series B round in March 2022 for ₩15.5 billion KRW ($12.6M USD), with participation from previous investors and new ones like IBK, Sejong Venture Partners, and Colopl Next. The company has also entered into agreements with AZothBio for joint development of cancer drugs, Clinigen for the supply of IL-2 'Proleukin', and an MOU with Dream CIS and Tigermed for development and strategic investment in its ATB-101 drug in the US. Its main pipeline assets include ATB-301, a TGF-β2 targeting ASO combined with IL-2, and ATB-101, a fixed-dose combination for treating both hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

Keywords: biopharmaceutical, antisense oligonucleotide, ASO therapeutics, small molecule drugs, oncology, cancer treatment, drug development, TGF-β2 inhibition, RNA interference, clinical trials, fixed-dose combination, immuno-oncology, targeted therapy, life sciences, biotechnology