Jungang Ocean Acquires 17.71% Stake in MeCox CureMed... Enters Bio Business

Blood Cancer Injection Drug 'Bendamustine' as Oral New Drug... Signal for Pioneering Bio-better Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Jungang Ocean is making a full-scale entry into the bio market by acquiring shares in a bio platform company.

Jungang Ocean announced on the 9th that it will acquire 17.71% of shares (833,000 shares) in Mecox Curemed worth 10 billion KRW. This accounts for 47.23% relative to its equity capital.

Jungang Ocean secured the position of the second-largest shareholder following Mecox Curemed CEO Jae-yong Jeong (with a 39.02% stake). It is striving to accelerate the commercialization of new drugs through additional investments such as acquiring new shares and convertible bonds. Mecox Curemed attracted investment funds from K-Clavis Investment and IMM Investment.

Mecox Curemed is a company specializing in new drug development. It has recently gained attention in the bio-better field. On the 6th, it began producing clinical trial products for Mecbentu, an oral administration new drug that changes the administration route of Bendamustine, a world-renowned injectable drug for blood cancer treatment. Mecox Curemed plans to expand Mecbentu’s indications beyond blood cancer to solid tumors such as stomach cancer.

A Jungang Ocean official introduced, "Mecox Curemed applied its proprietary drug delivery technology platform to Mecbentu," adding, "It is evaluated as having high value in the bio-better market." Furthermore, the official explained, "By acquiring shares, we are entering the bio sector in addition to our core businesses of ship block manufacturing and railway vehicle parts manufacturing."

As the first step toward entering the bio business, Jungang Ocean jointly filed a patent for a COVID-19 treatment with Mecox Curemed in May. It signed a joint development agreement for a COVID-19 treatment with a European new drug developer. The candidate treatment substance was exported to Europe. The company also added business objectives related to the bio sector and appointed an internal director for the bio field.

Mecbentu applies a drug encapsulation technology using Cyclodextrin, one of Mecox Curemed’s proprietary drug delivery technology platforms. The production of clinical trial products is expected to be handled by Haupt Pharma Amareg GmbH, a global pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Germany.

A Mecox Curemed representative said, "Bendamustine is an anticancer injectable drug with a short half-life," adding, "Patients need hospitalization for two consecutive days of administration, but with the oral formulation, hospitalization is not necessary." The representative also added, "The development of Mecbentu reflects the capabilities of Mecox Curemed’s key management, who have experience in new drug development at global pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and hold medical licenses."

Bio-betters are drugs improved in efficacy, safety, or convenience based on original drugs. Bio-betters differentiate themselves from new drugs in terms of efficacy and dosing frequency, distinguishing them from bio-similars, which simply replicate new drugs. They also have the advantage of avoiding patent rights, thereby enhancing market competitiveness.

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