[Special Stock] Enzychem Confirms Cell Death Reduction Effect in NASA Medical Response Study... Hopes for COVID-19 Treatment

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] While the domestic stock market is plunging, Engchem Life Sciences is showing strong performance. The news that they are hastening the IND application for EC-18, a new drug substance, to the US FDA based on its mechanism of action in eliminating COVID-19 appears to have influenced the stock price.

As of 9:29 AM on the 23rd, Engchem Life Sciences was trading at 55,500 KRW, up 15.87% (7,600 KRW) compared to the previous trading day.

On the same day, Jodohyun, CEO of Engchem Life Sciences’ US branch, stated, “As part of NASA’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) medical countermeasure research, we conducted joint research with several US university research institutions to confirm EC-18’s effect in reducing radiation-induced cell death. Preliminary research results show that EC-18 is more effective in reducing cell death than chloroquine, raising expectations as a treatment for COVID-19.” He added, “We have formed a dedicated COVID-19 task force team locally in the US and have begun preparing to submit an IND application to the US FDA.”

On the 18th, Engchem Life Sciences established a company-wide ‘COVID-19 Dedicated Task Force Team’ to strengthen medical countermeasures against COVID-19, involving key personnel from Korea and the US as well as external respiratory infection specialists to respond to COVID-19.

The company applied to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) under the US Department of Health and Human Services for the Medical Countermeasure (MCM) COVID-19 program. They also filed patents with the US Patent Office for EC-18 as a treatment for COVID-19 infection and pneumonia, meticulously preparing for clinical trials. Dr. Seonyeong Yoon, Director of Engchem Life Sciences’ Daejeon Bio Research Center, introduced EC-18 as “a next-generation antiviral drug substance whose mechanism involves immune cells rapidly engulfing and eliminating the virus, thereby preventing viral replication in a short time.” She emphasized, “When the virus invades the cell’s endosome, it instantly generates a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS), quickly eliminating the virus.”

Engchem Life Sciences has already completed research on EC-18’s mechanisms related to pneumonia, acute lung injury, sepsis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, phagocytosis, and efferocytosis (the process by which macrophages remove dead cells), and published papers in world-renowned academic journals.

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