Penetrium Bioscience unveils new approach to cancer treatment
Penetrium Bioscience CEO Cho Won-dong speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday. Photo by Penetrium Bioscience
SEOUL, April 16 (UPI) — South Korea’s Penetrium Bioscience unveiled a novel approach to cancer treatment that targets the environments surrounding tumors. That announcement came during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.
The company said that its drug candidate, Penetrium, developed by its major shareholder CNPharm, is designed to overcome a key problem of traditional cancer treatments — drug resistance caused by “sublethal” dosing.
Thus far, such resistance has been attributed to genetic mutations within cancer cells. However, Penetrium Bioscience shifted its focus to the tumor microenvironment, which it identified as a critical factor behind inadequate dosing.
Its rationale is that cancer cells can undergo adaptive changes, which reinforce the physical and metabolic barriers of the tumor microenvironment, enabling them to withstand further treatment.
Based on this concept, the company said that it has targeted the “soil,” which means the environment surrounding cancerous cells, rather than the “seed,” or the tumors themselves.
Penetrium aims to disrupt this process, and the company noted that its mechanism has been checked by three independent institutes, including Seoul National University Hospital and KAIST, one of Korea’s leading science and engineering universities.
“Penetrium is the ideal strategic partner capable of restoring drug efficacy by overcoming the sub-lethal dose limitations faced by targeted anticancer therapies from global big pharmaceutical firms,” Penetrium Bioscience CEO Cho Won-dong told the press meeting.
“This research will usher in a new era for targeted cancer treatments,” he added.
Penetrium Bioscience plans to present its research findings at the upcoming AACR Annual Meeting 2026, one of the world’s most prominent scientific conferences on cancer research.
Hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research, the yearly event is scheduled to begin Friday and run through Wednesday in San Diego.
The share price of Penetrium Bioscience dipped 9.55% on the Seoul bourse on Thursday.