Domestic Pharmaceutical Industry Breaks Global Barriers with 'Atopy Treatment'

Nearly 1 Million Atopic Dermatitis Patients in Korea
Challenge to Multinational Companies Dominating the Market

VigenCell to Announce Preclinical Results in May
Official Topic at Prestigious International Conference

JW Jungwoo, Yuhan, LG Chem, etc.
Active Clinical Research... Sufficient Competitiveness

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The domestic pharmaceutical industry is increasingly stepping up efforts to develop treatments for atopic dermatitis, a representative intractable autoimmune disease commonly occurring not only in children and adolescents but also in adults. Currently, multinational pharmaceutical companies dominate the global market, but with active related research underway, there is an expectation that domestic companies can also establish sufficient competitiveness.

Clinical Trials Heat Up in Domestic Pharmaceutical Industry

According to the pharmaceutical industry on the 4th, VigenCell, whose largest shareholder is Boryung Pharmaceutical, will present preclinical results of the atopic dermatitis treatment ‘VM-AD’ at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) global academic conference ‘Immunology 2022’ to be held in Portland, USA, this May. VM-AD is being developed through the ‘Vimedier’ platform, a technology based on umbilical cord blood stem cell-derived myeloid-derived suppressor cell therapy. It is particularly attracting attention as it has been selected as an official presentation topic at a world-renowned academic conference. Kim Tae-gyu, CEO of VigenCell, said, “More than 100 million atopic dermatitis patients worldwide suffer from symptoms such as itching, which lowers their quality of life. Through this presentation, we will promote the strengths of VM-AD to the global market and sequentially conduct clinical trials to become a new alternative for atopic dermatitis treatment.”

JW Pharmaceutical’s atopic dermatitis treatment candidate ‘JW1601,’ which was licensed out to Denmark’s LEO Pharma for a total of $402 million during the preclinical stage in 2018, entered global Phase 2 clinical trials starting December last year. JW1601, developed as an oral medication, has a dual mechanism of action that selectively targets the histamine H4 receptor to suppress inflammation and itching. The clinical trials are currently underway in Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia, targeting adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, administering the drug for 16 weeks and then evaluating efficacy and safety.

Yuhan Corporation received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety last July for Phase 1 clinical trials of ‘YH35324.’ YH35324 is being developed as a new drug for various immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic diseases such as chronic urticaria, atopic dermatitis, severe asthma, and food allergies. Currently, recruitment for clinical trial participants is underway at Seoul Asan Medical Center, Ajou University Hospital, Severance Hospital, and Bundang Seoul National University Hospital. Phase 1 trials will assess safety and tolerability in healthy individuals with atopic dermatitis or patients with mild allergic diseases.

LG Chem also plans to expand the indication of ‘LC510255,’ originally developed for inflammatory bowel disease treatment, to atopic dermatitis and conduct Phase 2 clinical trials. LC510255 is an oral drug that promotes the expression of ‘S1P1,’ a hypersensitive immune function regulatory protein. The partner company ‘Transthera Bioscience,’ which signed a license-out agreement, has received approval from Chinese authorities to proceed with Phase 2 clinical trials in China.

‘1 Million Patients and 100 Billion KRW’ in Korea Alone

The atopic dermatitis treatment market is currently dominated by multinational companies. Leading the market share is Sanofi Aventis’s Dupixent, followed by Lilly’s Olumiant, AbbVie’s Rinvoq, and Pfizer’s Cibinqo, among others. This is seen as a result of active autoimmune disease research by global pharmaceutical companies. Nevertheless, the domestic pharmaceutical industry sees sufficient value in entering the atopic dermatitis treatment market.

According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of atopic dermatitis patients in Korea was 921,070 in 2018, 949,990 in 2019, and 972,928 in 2020, approaching 1 million. Global market research firm Mordor Intelligence forecasts that the Korean atopic dermatitis treatment market will reach the 100 billion KRW range ($88.36 million) by 2024.

An industry official said, “The atopic dermatitis treatment market is a huge global market. Since research is actively being conducted, we believe the domestic pharmaceutical industry can also establish sufficient competitiveness.”

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