Chong Kun Dang is BiOrchestra investor

Chong Kun Dang Holdings is investing in local bio start-up BiOrchesta to develop an Alzheimer treatment and diagnostic devices as the company looks to expand its reach into the biopharmaceutical market.

The Korea pharmaceutical company announced in a statement Wednesday that it signed an agreement to buy 5 billion won ($4.16 million)-worth of BiOrchestra’s convertible preferred shares and join in development of the start-up’s Alzheimer treatment.

BiOrchestra, founded in 2016 as a RNA-based drug developing start-up, is developing an Alzheimer treatment, BMD-001, using MicroRNA interference technology. It is a multi-target treatment that removes toxic protein while suppressing infection in immune cells.

Chong Kun Dang said it decided to make the investment after BMD-001 animal experiments delivered promising results.

BiOrchestra currently holds a total of 14 patents and intellectual property rights for their research on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s diseases.

“Through this agreement, we have entered the Micro RNA-based biopharmaceutical business by securing outstanding technology and a new drug candidate from BiOrchestra,” said Chong Kun Dang Holdings CEO Woo Young-soo.

“We will speed up our open innovation by continuing to unearth new technologies in the biopharmaceutical field and actively making investments,” he said.

BiOrchestra said the investment will help the company start clinical trials of BMD-001 by next year.

Chong Kun Dang and BiOrchestra will co-develop treatments for Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“With Chong Kun Dang’s strategic investment, we will concentrate on realizing our ongoing research and development projects,” said BiOrchestra CEO Ryu Jin-hyeob.

BY KO JUN-TAE [ko.juntae@joongang.co.kr]