Daewoong Pancreatitis Treatment, Overseas Clinical Trials by COVID-19 Treatment Researchers

On the 19th, at Daewoong Pharmaceutical headquarters, Kim Dong-ho, Head of Clinical Research at the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (from the left), Jeon Seung-ho, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and Ryu Wang-sik, Director of the Korea Pasteur Institute, signed the agreement for overseas researchers' clinical trials for COVID-19 treatment development and took a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced on the 20th that it has signed a joint research agreement with the Korea Pasteur Institute and the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences for overseas researchers' clinical development of Hoistar tablets (active ingredient: Camostat Mesylate), which is being developed as a treatment for COVID-19.

According to the agreement, Daewoong Pharmaceutical will be responsible for supplying the necessary pharmaceuticals for clinical trials, supporting overseas clinical trial approvals, and handling all matters related to authorization such as emergency use approval applications. The Korea Pasteur Institute will develop a network of overseas researchers and ensure smooth progress of the joint research, while the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences will collaborate with overseas researchers to jointly develop clinical protocols and cooperate to ensure the clinical trials are properly conducted.

This treatment is a prescription drug used for chronic pancreatitis or reflux esophagitis after gastrectomy. The main ingredient, Camostat, recently attracted attention when the German G?ttingen Leibniz Primate Research Institute published its effects related to the COVID-19 virus in the world-renowned journal 'Cell.' According to the paper, this ingredient inhibits the protease activity necessary for the virus to enter cells, thereby preventing the COVID-19 virus from entering cells.

The Korea Pasteur Institute evaluated the efficacy of inhibiting COVID-19 virus infection in human lung cells and found it to be superior to Remdesivir, which was used as a control. Remdesivir, developed by the American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences as a treatment for Ebola virus infection, is the only drug worldwide recognized as a treatment for COVID-19. Daewoong Pharmaceutical previously received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety last month for Phase 2 clinical trials to develop Hoistar tablets as a treatment for COVID-19.

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