Naivec "Participates in US Federal Government Emergency Support Program for COVID-19 Therapeutic Development"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Naivek announced on the 27th that it will participate in the U.S. federal government's emergency research funding program and begin developing a treatment for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

This research support started through a consortium formed by Naivek with the University of Maryland and biotechnology companies such as 'ISTN' and 'Linsera.'

ISTN and Linsera are U.S.-based pharmaceutical development companies based on a 'nano-composite drug delivery system.' They are specialized biomedical bio-companies engaged in new drug development supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and government, working on treatments for digestive, respiratory, and ophthalmic diseases as well as peptide research.

Naivek plans to accelerate its COVID-19 treatment research and development project based on the research funds received from the federal government. The project is planned to be conducted mainly in Maryland, and Naivek will hold related meetings with the Maryland state government.

Maryland is considered an optimal location for biopharmaceutical research and development, housing institutions such as the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and clinical institutions like Johns Hopkins Hospital. Especially regarding the recent COVID-19 outbreak, Maryland has actively imported various supplies such as diagnostic kits capable of approximately 500,000 tests and masks from Korea, earning recognition for successful COVID-19 prevention efforts within the U.S. This COVID-19 treatment development collaboration is also part of such proactive prevention activities. Following Europe, Naivek can now advance preclinical research and clinical trials in the U.S. through cooperation with state governments and global pharmaceutical companies.

Naivek has already confirmed through joint research and development with a Swiss biotech company that its COVID-19 treatment 'NIPEP-ACOV' is the world's first to have simultaneous antiviral and cytokine suppression effects.

So far, global pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Regeneron have expressed concerns about side effects that may occur when applying 'interleukin-6' inhibitors, a cytokine substance that triggers immune responses, to COVID-19 treatment. Since Naivek's 'NIPEP-ACOV' has been externally verified to effectively suppress cytokines without side effects, it is expected to attract significant interest from global big pharma if it proceeds with treatment development.

Based on the Swiss biotech's verification results of the virus elimination and cytokine storm simultaneous suppression effects of 'NIPEP-ACOV,' Naivek plans to conduct comparative verification studies and safety research with existing cytokine inhibitors in the U.S. To this end, it plans to apply for IND (Investigational New Drug application) by October this year and produce clinical results next year.

A Naivek official stated, "In the U.S., through industry-academia cooperation activities, we will actively conduct clinical research for treatment development, including preclinical studies on animals. Treatment development will proceed simultaneously in Europe as well, and many global pharmaceutical companies are showing interest in 'NIPEP-ACOV.'"

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