대한뉴팜

DHNP’s research institute has registered a patent for a method to isolate and culture specific fibroblasts with superior skin regeneration effects from the heterogeneous fibroblast population, which is the main material for autologous fibroblast therapies.

Existing research and products primarily isolate fibroblasts from the dermal tissue behind the patient’s ear and expand them for use in treating skin depressions, wrinkles, and refractory dermatitis. However, these therapies based on heterogeneous fibroblasts have shown lower efficacy compared to existing treatments and cosmetic fillers, leading to limited market acceptance.

The research team stated, “Using this patented method, we successfully isolated papillary dermal fibroblasts, which exist in a specific dermal location, have superior proliferative ability, and play a central role in skin aging. Applying these fibroblasts in cell therapies is expected to yield significantly better effects compared to conventional fibroblast therapies.”

The “High-purity Isolation Method for Papillary Dermal Fibroblasts” employs transwell technology to separate highly active papillary dermal fibroblasts from heterogeneous fibroblast populations with high purity.

Cells isolated using this method demonstrated about seven times higher levels of skin regeneration factors characteristic of papillary dermal fibroblasts and exhibited excellent proliferative capacity. Furthermore, an increase in papillary dermal fibroblast factors was observed proportional to the number of culture passages, with stable maintenance and expansion confirmed.

Thus, this differentiation and purification technology for specific fibroblasts establishes Daehan New Pharm’s foothold in the global cell therapy market, which is growing annually by 9.4% (expected to reach $344 billion in 2021 from $241 billion in 2017 according to Frost & Sullivan) and the domestic cell therapy market, expanding at an annual rate of 25%.

Recently, DHNP relocated its bio research institute to Osong KBIO and is actively pursuing biopharmaceutical development. It has developed a high-efficiency cell culture system for fibroblast therapy and is applying serum-free media from its Japanese partner CSTI in cell therapy production.