[Click e-Stock] “Pharos iBio Initiates Full-Fledged Technology Transfer Talks with Global Big Pharma”

On June 17, the independent research institute ValueFinder analyzed that Pharos iBio requires a revaluation of its corporate value, citing the competitiveness of its proprietary AI drug development platform ‘Chemiverse’ and its core candidate substance PHI-101 (Lasmotinib), which has completed Phase 1 clinical trials.

In particular, Pharos iBio has been selected as an IR pitching company at ‘BIO USA 2026,’ a major U.S. bio event, and plans to discuss potential technology transfer (L/O) opportunities with global big pharma companies. Through this, the company aims to actively promote the global commercialization potential of its AI platform and major pipelines.

Established in 2016 and listed on the KOSDAQ market in 2023, Pharos iBio is an AI-driven new drug development company specializing in rare and intractable diseases. The company aims to optimize the entire drug development process from candidate discovery to clinical development using big data and artificial intelligence technologies. Leveraging its proprietary Chemiverse platform, it is working to build a revenue model through technology transfer agreements with global pharmaceutical companies.

The most advanced pipeline at present is PHI-101-AML, an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment. This candidate has completed Phase 1 clinical trials and is simultaneously preparing for global Phase 2 clinical trials and technology transfer. Another candidate, PHI-501, began its first patient dosing in a domestic Phase 1 clinical trial in January of this year. The new pipeline, PHI-701, was also selected as the lead institution for a structure-based AI drug development project supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, securing a total of KRW 3.52 billion in government R&D funding.

ValueFinder identified Chemiverse, the AI-based drug development platform, as Pharos iBio’s greatest competitive strength. Chemiverse is an integrated platform that supports the entire new drug development process, from candidate design to indication expansion, and consists of more than nine AI modules, including DeepRECOM, ChemGEN, ADMET, and Proteomics AI.

The company utilized the ADMET function within Chemiverse to predict toxicity and selected candidate substances with relatively low toxicity during the development of Lasmotinib. In addition, by using DeepRECOM, the company demonstrated platform-based results by expanding the applicable diseases for PHI-501 to include colorectal cancer and melanoma.

Currently, the company is also working to advance Chemiverse into an ‘Agentic AI’ format. Through this, Pharos iBio plans to automate all stages of drug development, including drug target identification, compound generation, preclinical design, and report writing. The company aims to shorten the drug development period by at least three years, reduce costs by up to 80%, and increase the probability of development success by two to three times compared to conventional processes.

The core drug candidate, PHI-101 (Lasmotinib), is being evaluated as a potential competitor in the global acute myeloid leukemia treatment market. The current market-leading drug, Gilteritinib (Xospata), has a relapse rate of approximately 30.5% among treated patients, and 96% of relapsed patients experience disease progression within four weeks, which is a significant limitation.

In contrast, Lasmotinib achieved a 50% composite complete remission rate (CRc) and a 67% objective response rate (ORR) in the recent global Phase 1b trial for relapsed/refractory patients. This surpasses Gilteritinib’s CRc of 40.8% and ORR of 52.1%, as well as Crenolanib’s CRc of 24.1% and Tuspetinib’s CRc of 15.4%.

Furthermore, there were no cases of Grade 3 or higher cardiotoxicity, such as QTc prolongation, during the clinical trial period, securing differentiated safety data.

Andrew Wei, a leading authority in the global AML field from Australia’s WEHI, selected Lasmotinib among a number of FLT3 inhibitors as the investigator-initiated trial (IIT) candidate for patients with minimal residual disease (MRD) positivity. The study is being conducted simultaneously in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, and, by securing the MRD indication, Lasmotinib’s use is expected to expand from a second-line treatment to maintenance therapy after first-line treatment.

PHI-501 is a dual inhibitor targeting both pan-RAF and DDR1, aiming for first-in-class drug development for KRAS and NRAS mutant colorectal cancer and melanoma patients that existing BRAF inhibitors cannot treat. In preclinical data, this candidate demonstrated activity 26 to 90 times higher than competing drugs in KRAS G12C inhibitor-resistant cells, and the company is targeting technology transfer deals worth up to KRW 1 trillion at the Phase 1 clinical stage.

Development of PHI-701 is also accelerating. Pharos iBio has signed a joint development memorandum of understanding with Kolon Pharmaceutical’s new drug division and has been selected as the lead institution for a national project of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The company is pushing ahead with the development of a fourth-generation EGFR inhibitor that overcomes the C797S resistance issue of the existing third-generation targeted anticancer drug Tagrisso, by combining its Chemiverse-based AI drug design technology with Kolon Pharmaceutical’s more than 70 non-small cell lung cancer xenograft models.

Tagrisso is a global blockbuster drug generating annual sales of about USD 6 billion (approximately KRW 9 trillion), but there are few treatment alternatives after resistance develops. In particular, in Asia, the proportion of EGFR mutations is about 45%, indicating significant market expansion potential.

The company has also secured financial stability. In December of last year, Pharos iBio completed a KRW 19 billion convertible bond (CB) issuance to investors, including a private equity fund participated by the National Pension Service. This funding has secured resources required for PHI-101’s entry into global Phase 2 clinical trials and subsequent pipeline R&D.

ValueFinder researcher Jeon Woobin stated, “Lasmotinib (PHI-101) has achieved composite complete remission and objective response rates that surpass Gilteritinib in relapsed/refractory patients who failed FLT3 inhibitor therapy, while also securing a 0% cardiotoxicity occurrence rate. As a tangible outcome of the Chemiverse platform, it will become an important asset in technology transfer negotiations with global big pharma.”

He added, “Being selected as an IR pitching company for 2026 BIO USA is an opportunity to present major pipelines such as PHI-101, PHI-501, and PHI-701 to global pharmaceutical companies simultaneously. Especially with the growth of the menin inhibitor market, it is positive that technology transfer discussions are taking place at a time when the value of Lasmotinib as a combination therapy partner is being highlighted.”

He also stated, “External validation of AI platform technology is continuing, including the advancement of Chemiverse Agentic AI and the selection of PHI-701 for national projects. Pharos iBio deserves to be revalued not just as a clinical-stage drug development company, but as an AI drug platform company.”

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