Japanese Pharmaceutical Company Conducts Clinical Trial of COVID-19 Oral Medication in Korea

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] A Japanese pharmaceutical company is planning to conduct clinical trials for a COVID-19 treatment drug overseas, including in Korea.

According to Kyodo News on the 2nd, Isao Ideshirogi, president of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., announced at a press conference held in Tokyo on the 1st that the company intends to conduct the final stage clinical trials of its oral (pill) treatment for mild COVID-19 patients overseas, including in Korea and Singapore.

Kyodo News reported that Shionogi is pursuing overseas clinical trials because the number of new COVID-19 cases in Japan has decreased, making it difficult to secure enough patients for the trials.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Japan peaked at about 26,000 per day on August 20 and sharply declined from September. On the 1st, the number of new cases was 86.

Headquartered in Osaka, the company plans to apply for government approval for the use of this treatment drug within this year.

Meanwhile, the company also announced that the final stage clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine currently under development are expected to start as early as this month.

Japan has not yet released a domestically produced COVID-19 vaccine.

If Shionogi’s vaccine is approved and supplied to the market, it will be the first domestically produced COVID-19 vaccine in Japan.

Besides Shionogi, Japanese companies such as KM Bionics, Daiichi Sankyo, and AnGes are also pursuing the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

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