Deal Targets Induced Proximity Technology for Next-Gen Drug Development
Daewoong Pharmaceutical headquarters (provided by Daewoong Pharmaceutical)
Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Primemind Invest in U.S. Biotech ‘General Proximity’
Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced on April 30 that it has made a strategic investment alongside Primemind Investment (hereinafter, FMI), a venture capital fund established by Primemind Group, in U.S. biotech company General Proximity.
The investment was pursued with the aim of securing “Induced Proximity” technology, which is drawing attention as a next-generation approach to new drug development, and of expanding the foundation for global collaboration.
Induced Proximity technology works by deliberately bringing together a disease-related protein and another protein capable of controlling it, thereby regulating protein function. Unlike conventional drug development approaches, which required designing drugs that precisely fit specific binding sites in order to modulate protein function, this technology is characterized by its ability to simultaneously link a target protein and a regulatory protein, inducing the modulation of protein function.
Founded in 2019, General Proximity possesses a platform for discovering such Induced Proximity therapeutics based on its “Effectome” scanning technology. It is regarded as a next-generation drug development approach in that it enables precise regulation of specific protein functions by inducing selective interactions between proteins, thereby expanding the scope of research to include target areas that were previously difficult to address.
The company has also received Golden Ticket Awards from global pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie, Astellas Pharma, Ono Pharmaceutical, and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), earning recognition for its technological capabilities. This award provides early-stage support to high-potential startups to help translate laboratory-stage research concepts into clinical development. The company has additionally secured research support from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), both U.S. government research agencies. In particular, it has been expanding its global partnerships, having concluded a joint research agreement with Daiichi Sankyo last year to advance collaboration on the development of cancer treatments.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical and FMI plan to build a strategic relationship with General Proximity on the basis of this investment, and to explore mid-to-long-term collaboration opportunities, including joint research and technology cooperation, going forward.
Park Sung-su, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, stated, “General Proximity’s Induced Proximity technology is an innovative approach capable of overcoming the limitations of conventional new drug development, and holds high strategic value,” adding, “We will solidly build a partnership for innovative new drug development through close collaboration with General Proximity going forward.”
Choi Mun-hee
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