JW Choongwae, No Issues with Other New Drug Developments Despite Atopy Drug Rights Return

"Will Deliver Innovative New Drugs Through R&D Platform"

JW Pharmaceutical announced on the 23rd regarding the return of rights to Leo Pharma's atopic dermatitis new drug candidate, stating, "Although it attracted market expectations, the result was disappointing," but added, "It will not affect the development of other new drugs."

JW Pharmaceutical Gwacheon New Headquarters Exterior [Photo by JW Pharmaceutical]

In a statement released that day, the company emphasized, "'Ezhuporant (LEO 152020)' is a histamine H4 receptor antagonist, a class with no successful cases worldwide yet," and "Leo Pharma's return of rights will not impact JW Pharmaceutical's other ongoing new drug developments."

Earlier, JW Pharmaceutical announced on the 20th that it had received a notice from its partner, Denmark's Leo Pharma, to return the rights to the atopic dermatitis new drug candidate Ezhuporant (JW1601), and decided to accept the full return of rights. The actual contract termination date is April 20 next year, and the termination notice was given on this day in accordance with the clause requiring a six-month prior notice before contract termination.

JW1601 is an oral atopic dermatitis treatment that selectively acts on the histamine H4 receptor to suppress inflammation and itching. It had been expected to grow into a blockbuster drug after being licensed out to Leo Pharma, the world's leading pharmaceutical company in the dermatology field and the original developer of 'Fucidin.' In August 2018, JW Pharmaceutical licensed out the global rights excluding Korea for the preclinical candidate JW1601 to Leo Pharma for a total of $420 million. However, there is no obligation to return the $17 million (approximately 23 billion KRW) signing bonus due to this rights return.

JW Pharmaceutical explained, "Developing a 'First-in-Class' innovative drug, the first new drug in the group, requires pioneering the entire cycle from the early concept proof stage (R stage) to clinical proof of concept (PoC) and commercialization (D stage)," and added, "This outcome will be accumulated as an asset for future success."

The company also revealed plans to continue new drug development through AI and machine learning-based R&D platforms. JW Pharmaceutical stated, "Through our in-house data science platforms 'Jewelry' and 'Clover,' we continuously generate new drug candidates targeting Wnt and STAT for cancer, immune diseases, and regenerative medicine," and explained, "Recently, we have been enhancing our R&D platform by integrating AI and deep learning technologies with chemical and bioinformatics big data, actively promoting open innovation with differentiated external AIDD (AI-based discovery) platforms."

Additionally, they said, "We are also continuously advancing translational clinical efforts to reduce discrepancies between preclinical and clinical stages and increase clinical success rates by combining R&D platforms such as organoids and zebrafish, not only AI," emphasizing, "Global innovative drug development is never easy, but JW Pharmaceutical's challenge will continue."

Meanwhile, according to JW Pharmaceutical, the Wnt-targeting hair loss treatment 'JW0061' and the STAT3-targeting anticancer drug 'JW2286' are scheduled to begin clinical trials in 2024.

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