Seo Jung-jin: "We Will Not Stop Fighting Variants... Preparing for Vaccine Development"

Celltrion Antibody Treatment 'Rekkirona Joo' Online Briefing Session

Seo Jung-jin, Honorary Chairman of Celltrion, is speaking at an online press conference on the company's COVID-19 antibody treatment 'Rekkironaju (CT-P59)' on the 18th. (Provided by Celltrion)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Seo Jung-jin, Honorary Chairman of Celltrion, announced on the 18th that the company will continue to respond to variant viruses in relation to its COVID-19 antibody treatment, "Rekkironaju (CT-P59)."

At an online press conference held that day, Chairman Seo emphasized, "We will not stop this fight halfway," stating that responses to variant viruses spreading domestically and internationally, such as those from the UK and South Africa, are already underway. He added, "All viruses mutate," and explained, "From the moment we decided to develop an antibody treatment, we planned to simultaneously address variant viruses."

Regarding this, Kwon Ki-seong, Head of Research and Development, said, "During the antibody screening process, we secured a diverse antibody pool and currently have 38 antibody platforms." As a result of evaluating neutralization ability against variant viruses, Rekkironaju showed the same neutralization ability against the UK variant as before mutation, and although efficacy was reduced against the South African variant, this was already sufficiently anticipated. Among the antibodies evaluated, antibody number 32 demonstrated strong neutralization ability.

Chairman Seo stated, "When variant viruses spread, having technological sovereignty is important," and added, "If technological independence for vaccines is not achieved, we are preparing to enter the vaccine field as well." However, he noted, "This is only if there are no alternatives elsewhere," and added, "It may be more expensive than other vaccines, so it is not an economically viable business."

Celltrion's COVID-19 antibody treatment 'Rekkironaju'
[Image source=Yonhap News]

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