CHA Biotech wins government backing to advance cell and gene therapy platform

CHA Biotech has secured government backing for a three-and-a-half-year research project aimed at pushing its cell and gene therapy platforms toward clinical development, with 31.5 billion won ($22.7 million) in funding. The biotechnology company said Tuesday that it was selected for a follow-up research and development project under the 2026 K-HERO Development and Support Program, led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and administered by the Korea Industrial Technology Association. The program supports corporate research centers working on national strategic technologies, with the goal of developing core technologies and turning them into commercial products. CHA Biotech will use the funding to develop and commercialize two platforms, CHAMS, a standardized source-cell platform based on mesenchymal stem cells, and CHAGE, which uses therapeutic genes to enhance cell function. The company said it plans to combine the platforms into a development system that can be applied across a range of hard-to-treat diseases, rather than being limited to a single condition. Its lead pipeline under the p