ZennCell Begins Recruiting Clinical Patients for Shingles Treatment Candidate 'ES16001'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Genencell announced on the 15th that it has started recruiting patients for the Phase 2a clinical trial of its herpes zoster treatment candidate substance 'ES16001.'

Although many clinical trials for herpes zoster prevention vaccines and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) treatment are underway domestically, this is the first clinical trial aimed at treating herpes zoster itself.

In this clinical trial, a total of 66 patients will be randomly assigned in a double-blind manner to two test groups and one active control group, and after oral administration of the clinical drug for 7 days, efficacy and safety will be exploratively evaluated.

ES16001 is a new drug candidate based on a novel material extracted from the leaves of the domestically native plant Dambalsu, jointly developed by Genencell and Kyung Hee University's College of Life Sciences with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Recently, exploratory efficacy was also confirmed for COVID-19 treatment, and global Phase 2/3 clinical trials are currently underway.

Herpes zoster tends to increase in patient numbers during the summer due to weakened immunity, and the incidence rate has also been rising recently due to COVID-19 aftereffects, so patient recruitment for the clinical trial is expected to be smooth. Genencell plans to complete dosing within this year and enter the next phase of clinical trials in the first half of next year.

A Genencell official stated, “Existing herpes zoster treatments require long-term administration of over 8 days, which is difficult, and many side effects have been reported. ES16001 is expected to be highly effective, allow long-term administration without side effects, and reduce the risk of recurrence and the development of neuralgia after complete recovery.”

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