Future Medicine Selected for Government Preclinical Support Project for COVID-19 Therapeutics

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Future Medicine, a nucleoside platform-based synthetic new drug research and development specialized company (CEO Jung Nakshin and Jung Wanseok), announced on the 22nd that its broad-spectrum antiviral agent 'FM203' under development has been selected for the 1st infectious disease preclinical trial support project of 2022 by the Korea Preclinical Center (KPEC, Director Ko Kyungcheol).

With this government project selection, Future Medicine plans to conduct 'Preclinical research on nucleoside derivative COVID-19 therapeutic candidates' and will receive support for preclinical evaluation of the antiviral efficacy of 'FM203' in a COVID-19 infection model.

In particular, through this research, the company aims to develop broad-spectrum therapeutics for novel and variant RNA viruses, including COVID-19 which is transitioning to an endemic, by utilizing nucleoside derivatives secured through patented technology.

A company official explained, "The nucleoside structure is the most promising in terms of efficacy for developing therapeutics that fundamentally eliminate viruses," adding, "This was an important basis for being selected for this government project."

Future Medicine previously used the nucleoside platform to develop related therapeutics during the MERS and SARS pandemics. At that time, candidate substances were derived and the world's first patent was filed, but as the infectious diseases rapidly disappeared, the company faced difficulties in securing infrastructure for infectious disease therapeutic research and development and subsequently halted development. The company expects that cooperation with infectious disease specialized research institutions through this government project will resolve past difficulties.

The company stated, "We will focus all our capabilities on rapidly developing broad-spectrum antiviral agents capable of responding not only to COVID-19 but also to various variant coronaviruses, helping people currently suffering to restore their daily lives and preparing for another possible pandemic in the future."

Meanwhile, Future Medicine is developing therapeutics for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), glaucoma, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) based on the core technology of the new drug candidate FM101, which has high efficacy in anti-inflammation and anti-fibrosis. Currently, phase 2 clinical trials for NASH therapeutics and glaucoma therapeutics are underway in multiple countries globally, and new drug research and development is also progressing for various pipelines including targeted anticancer agents, immuno-oncology agents, and metabolic anticancer agents.

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