Treating 'COVID-19' with Anthelmintics... Daewoong Prepares for Clinical Trials

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] The Korea Pasteur Institute and Daewoong Group have joined forces to develop a COVID-19 treatment using an anthelmintic ingredient that has shown high therapeutic efficacy against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 14th, according to the Korea Pasteur Institute, Daewoong Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Daewoong Co., Ltd., and Daewoong Pharmaceutical have begun preparations for clinical trials on the ingredient 'Niclosamide,' which has been found to have very strong antiviral effects against COVID-19.

Following the drug repositioning results from the Korea Pasteur Institute, Daewoong Therapeutics has embarked on developing a treatment using Niclosamide. Next month, together with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, they will conduct primate efficacy tests of the COVID-19 virus. They plan to submit a clinical trial application to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in July.

The Niclosamide ingredient was reported as the drug with the highest efficacy for COVID-19 treatment among existing drugs, according to the Korea Pasteur Institute's drug repositioning research results. Drug repositioning is the process of finding drugs that show therapeutic effects against COVID-19 among drugs that are already marketed or in clinical trials.

According to the research results, this ingredient showed 40 times higher therapeutic efficacy in laboratory cell experiments compared to Remdesivir, an Ebola treatment drug. It also demonstrated 26 times higher antiviral activity compared to Chloroquine, which was identified by the U.S. president as a 'game changer' for COVID-19 treatment.

However, Niclosamide has had difficulties being used as a COVID-19 treatment because it does not maintain blood concentration levels in the human body when taken orally.

Daewoong Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Daewoong Co., Ltd., plans to utilize drug delivery system technology to overcome these limitations and use Niclosamide as a COVID-19 treatment.

Last year, Daewoong Therapeutics succeeded in developing a new formulation, 'DWRX2003,' that maintains blood concentration of Niclosamide. In particular, the company developed 'DWRX2003' as a treatment for intractable lung diseases through joint research with Notus, the largest contract research organization (CRO) in Korea. Earlier this year, animal experiments confirmed its effects in improving respiratory distress by inhibiting mucus secretion in lung tissue and controlling cytokine storms by suppressing inflammatory cell infiltration. Daewoong Therapeutics is an R&D specialized company that maximizes drug efficacy while improving dosing convenience and side effects.

Ryu Wang-sik, director of the Korea Pasteur Institute, said, "The development of a COVID-19 treatment using Niclosamide is an encouraging example that demonstrates the essence of drug repositioning research by combining the research capabilities of the Korea Pasteur Institute and the development technology of Daewoong Therapeutics." He added, "We hope that the subsequent development proceeds successfully and contributes to ending COVID-19."

Lee Min-seok, CEO of Daewoong Therapeutics, said, "'DWRX2003' is an ingredient proven to have excellent effects against COVID-19 according to the Korea Pasteur Institute's research results, and we plan to rapidly develop it as a treatment for intractable lung diseases and COVID-19." He added, "'DWRX2003' is expected not only to have antiviral effects but also to have a high potential to suppress complications in lung tissue in severely infected patients."

Jeon Seung-ho, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said, "Daewoong Pharmaceutical will closely and organically cooperate with Daewoong Therapeutics and government-supported research institutions such as the Korea Pasteur Institute to develop COVID-19 treatments." He added, "We will actively support efforts to quickly produce results that can help medical sites."

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