"Dementia and Prostate Cancer... Accurate Treatment Requires Radiopharmaceuticals"

Kim Jong-woo, CEO of Dukem Bio, is being interviewed by Asia Economy.

[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] Dukem Bio is a specialized company in radiopharmaceuticals that diagnose intractable diseases such as dementia and cancer. It is regarded as a company that has made a significant contribution to the development of dementia treatments by accurately diagnosing the presence of beta-amyloid, which causes Alzheimer's, in the brain.

Kim Jong-woo, CEO of Dukem Bio, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 27th, "Dukem Bio holds 80% of the domestic radiopharmaceutical market share," adding, "Before the development of radiopharmaceuticals, accurate diagnosis of diseases was difficult, making drug development challenging." Radiopharmaceuticals are special medicines manufactured by combining radioactive isotopes with pharmaceuticals (carriers).

CEO Kim stated, "In the past, MRI was sometimes used for dementia diagnosis through tomography, but it had limitations as it did not show results accurately," explaining, "This is why the process of developing dementia treatments took 30 years." The approval for use of Dukem Bio’s radiopharmaceutical 'Bijamil,' which interprets dementia patients' brains in color images, in Korea in 2015 accelerated the development of treatments.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will decide in January next year whether to grant expedited approval for 'Lecanemab,' an Alzheimer's treatment jointly developed by multinational pharmaceutical companies Eisai and Biogen. CEO Kim predicted, "As the demand for accurate dementia diagnosis increases, such dementia treatments will continue to emerge and be commercialized, and the market will grow exponentially."

Dukem Bio launched the prostate cancer diagnostic radiopharmaceutical 'FACBC' domestically in November. CEO Kim explained, "Prostate cancer was previously thought to be a simple cancer treatable by removing only the prostate, but cases of metastasis and recurrence throughout the body after 3 to 5 years have become frequent," adding, "It was difficult to diagnose and treat because CT or MRI could not detect cancer spread throughout the body."

FACBC enabled accurate diagnosis prior to treatment. After receiving FDA approval in 2016 and European Medicines Agency (EMA) certification in 2017, it has been used for 196,000 prostate cancer recurrence patients worldwide. CEO Kim said, "With the aging population increasing the number of prostate cancer recurrence patients domestically, the supply of FACBC to the market will enable accurate diagnosis, bringing changes to treatment and efficient patient management."

Due to the characteristics of radioactive isotopes with half-lives, radiopharmaceuticals have a very short shelf life of 5 to 10 hours compared to general pharmaceuticals. CEO Kim said, "To overcome these time constraints, it is necessary to establish manufacturing facilities adjacent to hospitals to supply radiopharmaceuticals stably," adding, "Dukem Bio currently has a total of 12 manufacturing sites in Korea, including six certified with the global standard 'GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)' that guarantees the stability and efficacy of pharmaceuticals."

CEO Kim stated, "We are dedicated to laying the foundation for future growth by pursuing overseas new drug approvals and license-outs," and added, "We will strive to grow as a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) in the Asian market in the therapeutic radiopharmaceutical sector."

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