[Good Brain 2023] CEO Jeong Jae-jun: "Oral Therapeutics Will Lead the Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment Market"

"Oral (ingestible) therapeutics will lead the market not only for dementia but also for mild cognitive impairment."

On the 20th, Jeong Jae-jun, CEO of Aribio, gave a lecture titled "The Future Dementia Therapeutics of K-Bio" at the 'Good Brain 2023 Conference' held at The Westin Chosun Seoul. Aribio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming to develop dementia therapeutics through its AI-based new drug development platform 'ARIDD,' optimized for multi-mechanism drug development, and open innovation. Aribio's dementia therapeutic pipeline consists of five candidates: AR1001 for early Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, and vascular dementia; AR1002 for tau pathology Alzheimer's disease and Rett syndrome; AR1003, a combination drug; AR1004, a natural product (herbal medicine); and AR1005, targeting Lewy body dementia.

Jaejun Jeong, CEO of Aribio, is giving a lecture on the topic of "The Future Dementia Treatment of K-Bio" at the "Good Brain 2023 Conference" held on the 20th at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The most successful candidate is AR1001. AR1001 is known to inhibit dementia progression and improve patients' memory and cognitive function through phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5 inhibition. This therapeutic suppresses the intracellular production of amyloid-beta (Aβ) protein. CEO Jeong explained, "While antibody therapeutics, which currently dominate dementia treatment, work by removing extracellular Aβ accumulated in the brain, AR1001 penetrates cells and removes Aβ through autophagy, thereby inhibiting its accumulation." Additionally, it activates the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) signaling pathway within brain neurons to prevent neuronal death caused by toxic cells. Last month, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the global Phase 3 clinical trial of the oral Alzheimer's therapeutic AR1001. The drug is being prepared for launch in 2026.

In the clinical trial, the candidate drug is administered to about 150 early Alzheimer's patients over 52 weeks to evaluate safety and efficacy. According to the schedule, patient recruitment will begin at major domestic medical institutions and dementia centers. The Phase 3 trial is ongoing with a total of 1,250 participants: 600 in the United States, 400 in Europe, 150 in Korea, and 100 in China. Patient dosing began first in the U.S. after FDA approval in December last year. The Phase 3 clinical trial plan has also been submitted in China.

CEO Jeong emphasized, "The recently approved Leqembi (generic name lecanemab) shows effects in slowing cognitive decline but has side effects such as brain edema and cerebral hemorrhage," adding, "AR1001 has a high safety profile with almost no side effects." It is convenient to take as it requires only one pill. It is also highly cost-competitive. Aribio's dementia therapeutics are more than 4.5 times cheaper than existing intravenous drugs like Leqembi. CEO Jeong analyzed, "The daily cost of current intravenous drugs is about 100,000 KRW, but AR1001 costs 22,000 KRW per day in the U.S."

CEO Jeong stated, "We expect AR1001 to capture more than 20% of the total Alzheimer's therapeutic market," and added, "We will expand our pipeline and business areas for multi-mechanism drug development using our AI-based new drug development platform."

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