Daewoong Pharmaceutical "Niclosamide Selected for Government Support for COVID-19 Treatment Production Equipment"

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Daewoong Pharmaceutical's 'DWRX2003' (active ingredient Niclosamide), being developed as a treatment for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has been preliminarily selected as a production equipment establishment support project by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.

According to Daewoong Pharmaceutical on the 21st, this preliminary selection will be finalized as an official selection around January next year after review by the National Research and Development Facilities and Equipment Deliberation Committee. Once selected, Daewoong Pharmaceutical will execute clinical sample production and mass production supply of DWRX2003 by December next year, receiving up to 1.9 billion KRW in support from the Ministry of Health and Welfare out of approximately 3.8 billion KRW in production facility costs.

Niclosamide, jointly developed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Daewoong Therapeutics, has demonstrated various effects in animal models, including virus elimination, cytokine storm inhibition, and improvement of respiratory distress.

Meanwhile, Daewoong Pharmaceutical aims to secure Phase 2 multinational trial results in the first half of next year to obtain conditional approval and emergency use authorization domestically and internationally.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical's 'Hoistar Tablet,' being developed as a COVID-19 treatment through drug repositioning, will disclose the Phase 2 'top-line' clinical trial results within this month.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical aims to launch Hoistar Tablet in January next year. Upon release, it will become the first oral COVID-19 treatment in Korea. It is expected to be used not only for mild and severe cases but also for close contacts.

Seungho Jeon, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said in a media interview, "Once the Phase 2 clinical trial results are out, we are consulting with government departments and experts to enable immediate use for actual COVID-19 patients in medical settings," adding, "Through 'simplified' approvals such as conditional approval or emergency use authorization, patients will be able to take it from early next year."

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