[THE INVESTOR] Ahngook Pharm has signed an agreement to adopt Y Biogologics’ immune checkpoint inhibitor, it announced on Sept. 27.

The pharmaceutical company will run non-clinical and clinical trials on the antibody that restores or enhances the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. The treatment has been reported to have less side effects than first generation chemical therapy that attacks normal tissues and to be more effective than the second generation targeted therapy that kills or deters growth of targeted cancer cells.

With the introduction of this new treatment, Ahngook Pharm seeks to strengthen its position in the biopharmaceutical market, which it entered in 2015 with two kinds of long-acting protein drugs.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)