EAID-Etron Equity Investment in 'Hanguk Chorus'... "Application for Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Neutropenia"

by Ryu Hyunseok

Published 04 Jan.2021 10:20(KST)

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Korean Corus, in which EID and its affiliate Etron have invested 20 billion KRW through a partnership to expand their business areas, is set to officially begin clinical trials for a neutropenia treatment.

A company official from EID stated on the 4th, "Korean Corus has applied to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for Phase 1 clinical trials of the long-acting neutropenia treatment ‘PEG-GCSF’." The plan is to verify efficacy and safety through Phase 1 trials.

Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell. Neutropenia refers to a condition where bone marrow function is impaired due to causes such as chemotherapy or radiation, resulting in decreased production of neutrophils in the body. When neutrophils decrease, the risk of life-threatening infections significantly increases, and in some cases, chemotherapy treatment may be disrupted.

Korean Corus’s G-CSF is an artificially synthesized granulocyte colony-stimulating factor used as a neutropenia treatment. The company has developed a long-acting neutropenia treatment by utilizing pegylation technology, which prolongs drug efficacy.

G-CSF has the advantage of reducing the frequency of administration compared to existing neutropenia treatments. The company explained that while existing neutropenia treatments require once-daily administration, G-CSF can be administered once per chemotherapy cycle.

Korean Corus plans to initiate clinical trials for long-acting anemia treatments (PEG-EPO) and antibody drug pipelines in the future.

Meanwhile, Korean Corus’s vaccine production CMO business is also progressing smoothly. The company announced that it has signed a contract for contract manufacturing (CMO) of 300 million doses of the Russian vaccine ‘Sputnik V.’ The development of ‘Sputnik V’ is supported by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). According to recent reports from the Russian TASS news agency, RDIF has signed a vaccine supply contract with the Argentine government for 10 million doses.