[Edaily Reporter YU JIN-HEE ] EyeGene,Inc(185490), which possesses the largest messenger RNA (mRNA) pipeline in Korea, is joining a massive research and development (R&D) project aimed at solving national healthcare challenges, thereby significantly expanding its research scope to include the development of next-generation vaccines and treatment platforms for intractable chronic diseases.

EyeGene,Inc. announced on the 1st that it has been officially selected as a partner institution for two tasks under the “Korean Agency for Advanced Research in Healthcare (ARPA-H) Project”—a national R&D initiative supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the K-Health Future Promotion Team of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI)—and has completed the signing of an official agreement.

The selected projects are: △ Development of a vaccine platform for inducing long-term immunity; and △ Development of a platform to fundamentally block reactivation by eliminating latent sites of chronic viral infections. Both projects will run for the next five years, and EyeGene,Inc. will begin joint research based on government grants totaling 26 billion won—13 billion won per project.

The “Korean ARPA-H Project” is a government-led innovative R&D initiative modeled after the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and ARPA-H. It aims to solve “high-risk, high-reward” challenges—projects with a high risk of failure but immense socioeconomic impact and implications for national health security if successful—and will receive a total budget of 1.16 trillion won over nine years starting in 2024.

The “Development of a Vaccine Platform Inducing Long-Term Immunity” project is led by the Korea University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, with six institutions—including EyeGene,Inc.—conducting joint and commissioned research. A total of 15 billion won in research funding will be invested, including 13 billion won in government grants.

The research team plans to develop a next-generation vaccine platform that induces a long-lasting immune response in response to “highly pathogenic avian influenza” (HPAI), a respiratory infectious disease with a high risk of pandemics and the potential for viral variants to emerge. The key objective is to dramatically improve the short duration of immunity, which has been cited as a limitation of existing mRNA vaccines.

In this research, EyeGene,Inc will be solely responsible for the vaccine’s basic manufacturing and quality development (CMC) as well as preclinical testing of candidate compounds, with the goal of completing a long-acting, immune-inducing mRNA vaccine ready for clinical trials.

The project titled “Development of a Platform to Fundamentally Block Reactivation by Eliminating Latent Reservoirs of Chronic Infectious Viruses” is led by the Sungkyunkwan University Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation, with four institutions—including EyeGene,Inc.—conducting the research jointly. The total project budget amounts to 14.6 billion won, including 13 billion won in government funding.

The goal of this project is to establish a fundamental therapeutic platform that fundamentally blocks viral reactivation by directly identifying and destroying the latent reservoirs of the “hepatitis B virus,” which lies dormant in the body and causes persistent liver damage and cancer. It aims to overcome the limitations of existing treatments—which merely temporarily suppress viral replication—and achieve a “cure.”

In this project, EyeGene,Inc will oversee the development of key therapeutic compounds, the establishment of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant production processes, and all aspects of CMC research.

An EyeGene,Inc official emphasized, “Based on our proprietary mRNA technology accumulated through the development of vaccines for COVID-19, Hantavirus, and Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS), we will successfully complete this national strategic R&D project,” adding, “We will continue to expand the spectrum of our mRNA platform beyond prevention-focused vaccines into the realm of treatments for intractable chronic diseases.”