[New Wave] Drug Repurposing Gaining Attention as a COVID-19 Treatment

Recently, the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which is increasingly likely to become a pandemic worldwide including in South Korea, is posing a threat to the health of all humanity. Unlike previous novel influenza viruses, the problem lies in the absence of vaccines and appropriate treatments. Reports have indicated that AIDS treatments and discontinued Ebola virus treatments show effectiveness against COVID-19 patients, prompting regulatory authorities worldwide to discuss rapid supply through drug repurposing. Developing treatments based on new drugs would be time-inappropriate for timely supply during a pandemic.

Drug repurposing involves reevaluating drugs that have already obtained indications and are on the market or those that failed to be recognized as new drugs due to insufficient efficacy in clinical trials, to find new indications and develop them as new drugs. A well-known example is Pfizer’s erectile dysfunction treatment, Viagra. Initially developed as a cardiovascular vasoconstrictor for angina treatment, it was nearly abandoned due to low efficacy during clinical trials but was later successfully developed as a new drug after discovering a new indication.

The advantage of drug repurposing varies depending on the development stage of the existing drug, but it can significantly shorten clinical trial phases by recognizing much of the existing clinical trial data. As part of the global trend toward open innovation-based Connect & Development (C&D) strategies, drug repurposing is one of the strategies multinational pharmaceutical companies incorporate into new drug research and development (R&D) to secure promising pipelines. While drug repurposing can drastically reduce development time and develop new drugs with relatively low costs, there are some limitations related to intellectual property (IP) rights, such as agreements with rights holders of existing substance patents and exercising those rights.

Recently, applying artificial intelligence (AI) using big data to drug repurposing strategies has been recognized as an effective approach. For example, in May last year, IBM discontinued the development and sales of its drug development AI platform 'Watson for Drug Discovery' and shifted focus to clinical trials and related areas such as drug repurposing. Similarly, many developers are now concentrating on drug repurposing using AI platforms based on big data.

The South Korean government also launched a project last year to invest 25.8 billion KRW over the next three years to build an AI drug development platform. Considering the limited R&D funding, the overseas IBM case, and recent COVID-19 examples, it seems important to focus on clinical trials and drug repurposing based on them through selective concentration rather than applying the AI platform to various fields. Building capabilities to respond appropriately to national crises and enhancing future national response abilities, as seen in past outbreaks such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola virus incidents, make AI-based drug repurposing strategies an essential part of the national infrastructure for new drug development.

Meanwhile, alongside COVID-19 treatments, proactive preparation rather than reactive responses will be necessary in vaccine development to prepare for future novel virus pandemics. In national crises like COVID-19, new drug development is directly linked to national security. Vaccines, essential for disease prevention and treatment development, have emerged as a field that determines a nation's rise and fall even more critically than global trade wars. Therefore, a long-term approach to new drug development and future-oriented policy considerations rather than reactive measures appear necessary.

Jung Yuntaek, Director of the Pharmaceutical Industry Strategy Research Institute

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.