GluGene Therapeutics (CEO Moon-Soo Lee), a gene therapy company specializing in the development of next-generation precision-guided AAV (Adeno-Associated Virus) vectors, announced that it has been selected for the ‘Public-Private Joint Technology Commercialization R&D (TRL Jump-up)’ program by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Through this initiative, the company will adopt promising patented technologies held by the Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation to expand its pipeline in the neuromuscular field.
The TRL Jump-up program is a government initiative designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in transferring lab-stage public technologies to develop them into commercial applications. In collaboration with the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundations of Yonsei University and Sogang University, GluGene Therapeutics aims to bridge the technological gap that often occurs during the market entry process.
Previously, the company conducted value-up R&D based on foundational patents acquired from Yonsei University to increase clinical success rates. As a result of these efforts, research regarding pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatments and targeting vectors was published in the prestigious international journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, and the company actively promoted its technology marketing at the global ASGCT (American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy) conference.
GluGene Therapeutics expects this recent selection to provide significant momentum for the development of neuromuscular-targeting precision-guided vectors and therapeutics. According to the company, while neuromuscular gene therapies such as Zolgensma and Elevidys are currently on the market with U.S. FDA approval, they face limitations as high-dose administration is inevitable due to the nature of muscle diseases. GluGene Therapeutics plans to overcome this issue by developing precision-guided AAV vectors that ensure both efficacy and safety even at low doses. By adopting the early-stage technology of Professor Jae-Hyung Jang from Yonsei University, the company intends to absorb know-how in indication development and accelerate the overall R&D process.
Meanwhile, GluGene Therapeutics CEO Moon-Soo Lee received the Minister’s Commendation from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Minister’s Award from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2022 for his contributions to the commercialization of public research achievements. Together with co-founder Professor Jae-Hyung Jang, he is actively driving the commercialization of gene therapy delivery vectors.
