HLB Innovation Subsidiary Verismo Unveils CAR-T Research Findings for Solid Tumors

[Financial News] Verismo Therapeutics, HLB Innovation’s U.S. subsidiary, will unveil preclinical research findings on a next-generation CAR-T therapy targeting solid tumors. The key findings are reduced T-cell exhaustion—a decline in T-cell function—and lower cytokine release compared with existing CAR-T therapies.
Verismo said on the 16th that it would present the findings as a poster at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2026), to be held in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 6 (local time).
The study evaluated KIR-CAR T cells engineered to target mesothelin on the surface of cancer cells. In in vivo preclinical models, researchers directly compared Verismo’s KIR-CAR with CAR-T therapies based on CD28 and 4-1BB, which are widely used in existing CAR-T treatments. The company said, “We confirmed reduced T-cell exhaustion and cytokine release with KIR-CAR.”
CAR-T is a treatment that enables a patient’s T cells to find and attack cancer cells. It has shown high efficacy against blood cancers, but has struggled to maintain its effects over time in solid tumors. This is because the environment around tumors suppresses immune cell activity, and T cells may lose function as they repeatedly attack cancer cells.
Verismo is seeking to overcome these limitations by changing the structure of CAR-T. Existing CAR-T therapies connect the part that recognizes cancer cells and the part that sends attack signals to T cells in a single chain. KIR-CAR, by contrast, uses the receptor structure of natural killer (NK) cells in a multi-chain design that separates the two parts. It is designed so that the two parts bind when they recognize a target, activating the T cell.
The mesothelin-targeting technology used in this study is also incorporated into SynKIR-110, which Verismo is developing. The company expects the findings to support the clinical development of SynKIR-110. The CAR-T therapy is being developed for conditions including advanced ovarian cancer, cholangiocarcinoma and mesothelioma, in which mesothelin is expressed. It is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial at several medical institutions in the United States.
Earlier this year, Verismo presented initial clinical results for SynKIR-110 at a plenary session of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). According to the company, this is the first time a clinical study by a South Korean company has been selected for the session.
Brian Kim, CEO and co-founder of Verismo, said, “Maintaining T-cell function and persistence is an important challenge in developing CAR-T therapies for solid tumors.” He added, “This study is significant in that it confirmed KIR-CAR’s distinctiveness through a direct comparison with existing CAR-T therapies,” and said, “We will continue the clinical development of SynKIR-110 based on these findings.”
[email protected] Choi Doo-sun Reporter