Proteomics platform to be linked with patient clinical and pathological data

Human-derived samples to assess target expression in actual tissue

Partnership aims to commercialize next-generation drugs including antibody-drug conjugates

Han Seung-man (left), co-CEO of Vertis, and Shin Myeong-geun, director of the Advanced Precision Medicine Industrialization Support Center at Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital, pose for a photo at the MOU signing ceremony held at Vertis headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [Vertis]
Han Seung-man (left), co-CEO of Vertis, and Shin Myeong-geun, director of the Advanced Precision Medicine Industrialization Support Center at Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital, pose for a photo at the MOU signing ceremony held at Vertis headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [Vertis]

Vertis, a proteomics specialist, has teamed up with a university hospital to validate drug treatment targets using patient clinical data.

Vertis announced Tuesday that it signed an MOU with the Advanced Precision Medicine Industrialization Support Center at Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital for joint research on the discovery and validation of treatment targets, leveraging patient-derived clinical resources and proteomics technology.

Under the agreement, the two institutions will work to identify new treatment targets for major diseases including cancer and verify their efficacy at the patient level. Candidate targets identified through Vertis's proteomics target discovery platform SURF will be cross-referenced with de-identified clinical and pathological data and human-derived biological samples held by Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital, with the aim of evaluating target expression characteristics in actual patient tissue, disease associations and clinical value from multiple angles.

SURF uses AI to analyze big data on proteins at and near cancer cell surfaces to identify targets, which are then refined through laboratory testing into a technology transfer package. Cell-surface proteins are considered key targets for next-generation therapeutics such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and bispecific antibodies.

The Advanced Precision Medicine Industrialization Support Center at Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital holds preclinical testing infrastructure that recently received Good Laboratory Practice designation from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The two institutions plan to pursue not only academic publication of research findings but also follow-on research and step-by-step commercialization of promising candidate compounds.

The partnership moves proteomics target analysis beyond its traditional focus on cell-line-based discovery and into direct integration with hospital patient tissue and clinical pathology data — pre-validating the clinical viability of drug candidate targets and enhancing the commercialization potential of the pipeline.

"Validating that a drug target actually functions as a meaningful target in real patient tissue is just as important as discovering it in the first place," said Han Seung-man, co-CEO of Vertis. "By combining our proteomics discovery technology with the hospital's clinical research resources, we will secure highly reliable targets and translate that into drug development and technology transfer outcomes."


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