The Global Tips program is a flagship public-private partnership R&D initiative in which private investment firms identify and invest in promising companies, while the government provides matching funding for research and development. It aims to provide focused support for the technological advancement and overseas commercialization of technology-based companies with high potential for global market entry.
IMBiologics Corp. applied for the project with investment support and a recommendation from AJU IB INVESTMENT CO., LTD. and was ultimately selected after passing written and in-person evaluations regarding eligibility and global competitiveness. The company will receive 5 billion won in pure government grants for R&D over four years and will carry out this large-scale national project with a total budget of 6.67 billion won, including the company’s own contribution.
The core objective of this Global TIPS project is to advance “IMB-201,” a dual-mechanism anti-cancer antibody therapy targeting HLA-G, into global Phase 1 clinical trials. Based on its high cancer specificity, this antibody has the potential to be developed into a next-generation anti-cancer drug capable of overcoming the limitations of existing therapies by simultaneously enhancing innate immunity, modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME), and inducing cancer cell death.
Through this government-funded project, the company plans to advance its preclinical research, validate its mechanism of action, and accelerate development, thereby making a leap into the full-scale global clinical development phase.
In particular, this selection is highly significant because it allows IMBiologics Corp. to link and expand the achievements secured during the preliminary research phase—based on the proprietary HLA-G-specific antibody technology acquired through the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ “Scale-up Tips” program, for which the company was selected in 2023—into the global clinical phase. The achievements in antibody discovery and initial validation accumulated through “Scale-up Tips” have led to this “Global Tips” selection, and the company is viewed as having once again been validated as a promising enterprise with promising technology through the government’s continued support.
Ha Kyung-sik, CEO of IMB-Biologics Corp., stated, “This selection for the ‘Global Tips’ program is a significant achievement that recognizes the global development potential and technological competitiveness of IMB-201.” He added, “We will further accelerate development—from preclinical development through global IND approval and into Phase 1 clinical trials—to secure competitiveness in the global market as a next-generation immunotherapy capable of overcoming the limitations of existing treatments and to generate commercial success.”
