• Preclinical data from the next generation eyedrop platform to be unveiled for the first time at ARVO 2024

DAEJEON, South Korea, April 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmAbcine, Inc. ("PharmAbcine" or the "Company") (KOSDAQ: 208340), a clinical-stage public company developing next generation therapeutics to treat medical unmet needs, announced today that the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Wincal Biopharm, Inc. ("WincalBio"), will present preclinical findings on its innovative ocular drug delivery platform at the upcoming conference, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the world's largest ophthalmology conference which will be held from May 5^th to 9^th, 2024 in Seattle, WA, United States.

Based in South San Francisco, California, WincalBio is an emerging biotech dedicated to developing next-generation ocular drug delivery platforms and therapeutics for vascular diseases. Its proprietary Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) screening platform has shown high potential in treating various ocular diseases using eyedrop formulation of antibody therapeutics, thereby replacing the need for intravitreal injections. This novel OPC platform has a mechanism in facilitating the delivery of antibody therapeutics through the vitreous humor of the eye, reaching critical structures such as the aqueous chamber, vitreous, retina, and choroid.

WincalBio stands as a pioneer in biotech industry with a leading program validated in mouse CNV models for anti-VEGF antibody therapies, a significant advancement in treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME). These breakthroughs, along with preclinical data from various animal models, will be unveiled for the first time at ARVO 2024. While anti-VEGF antibody therapies are the standard of care for AMD treatment, they are currently limited to intravitreal injections.

Dr. TaeWeon Lee, Chief Scientific Officer of WincalBio, underscored the importance of presenting these groundbreaking findings at ARVO, noting, "The OPC platform, developed internally over the past few years, has never been publicly disclosed. Presenting the preclinical data for the first time at ARVO holds tremendous significance." Additionally, Dr. Venice Chiueh, Director at WincalBio and the oral presenter, expressed gratitude for the keen interest of ARVO meeting organizers. "We appreciate the opportunity provided by ARVO reviewers to present advancements in eyedrop development. We are committed to ensuring the success of clinical studies aimed at transitioning existing patients from intravitreal injections to eyedrop applications."

Eyedrop applications of therapeutics offer significant advantage of being non-invasive, as well as enhancing patient convenience with minimum side effects. While effectively delivering sufficient quantities of the therapeutics to the back of the eye remains the primary challenge for topical applications, WincalBio's OPC platform aims to overcome this challenge.

ARVO, founded in 1928, is the world's largest ophthalmology conference with over 10,000 members from over 75 countries.

The schedule of the presentation is as follows:

Presentation Number: 2159
Presentation Title: Development of eyedrops for anti-VEGF therapeutic antibodies as a substitute for IVT injection for posterior ocular disease indications
Session Number: 240
Session Title: Advancements in age-related macular degeneration: Novel drugs, delivery systems, and mechanistic insights
Session Date/Start Time: May 6, 2024 from 3:00 PM to 3:15 PM
Room: Yakima 1 (Seattle Convention Center - Arch Building)

About Wincal Biopharm, Inc.

Wincal Biopharm (WincalBio) is focused on developing vascular therapeutics. Our current focus is on developing eyedrop formulations for therapeutic antibodies using proprietary Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) screening platform to identify a matching antibody:carrier pair that allows therapeutic antibodies reach intraocular space including aqueous chamber, vitreous, retina and choroid, which is difficult without injection. This non-invasive eyedrop delivery of therapeutic antibodies without intravitreal injections opens up broader treatment opportunities for multiple intraocular diseases including wet AMD, DME, diabetic retinopathy, uveitis, geographic atrophy, thyroid eye disease and uveal melanoma to lower the treatment burden for both patients and clinicians. It can be used as a monotherapy with already FDA approved anti-VEGF antibodies as well as combination with other novel target antibodies including cytokine targets such as ILs (IL-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IL-18, IL-23), TNFa, TGFb, FGF, PDGF, FasL, EGFR as well as ocular cancer targets (PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA4). Currently, anti-VEGF antibody is a lead program with preclinical efficacy demonstration in mouse CNV model, and planning to do clinical studies in 2026 followed by other novel target antibody programs and combination programs. At WincalBio, our commitment to in vivo science with a needle free drug delivery underpins to improve patient's quality of life and compliance.

About OPC Platform

Ocular Penetration Carrier (OPC) platform is an in vivo ocular penetration screening to quickly identify a matching cargo protein to carrier formulation from our proprietary carrier library. Delivered target protein localization from cornea, anterior chamber, vitreous, retina, choroid and optic nerve can be monitored with a labeled fluorescent signal. A wide variety of large molecule therapeutic candidates including Fab, scFv, IgGs, Fc fusion proteins, recombinant proteins and growth factors can be delivered to the back of eye. Our proprietary carriers were designed to facilitate large molecules to intraocular target area.

About Aflibercept-ED (WBP-101)

Aflibercept-ED (WBP-101) is an aflibercept/OPC eyedrop formulation to target retinal area without using needles. Aflibercept has been clinically well proven anti-VEGF therapeutics with the delivery route of intravitreal injections. WBP-101 eyedrop application can significantly improve ease of use and avoid injection related issues including pain, bleeding, infection or inflammation and may improve patient adherence rate by lowering treatment related burdens. Patients can easily apply eyedrops at home, which can replace IVT injection procedures for ocular disease treatment. WBP-101 can be a primary monotherapy or can be used as a maintenance therapy after an initial IVT injection. Combination therapy is also possible by delivering different pathway blocking antibodies in a single formulation. Preclinical PoC in mouse CNV model demonstrated a comparable efficacy profile to the IVT injected.

For additional information about Wincal Biopharm, Inc., visit https://www.wincalbio.com.