'K-Dementia Conquest Alliance'... Samjin, Ari, and Neuropit Visit the US Together

As dementia treatments targeting the root causes of the disease, such as Lekembi and Donanemab, accelerate development and commercialization both domestically and internationally, Korean companies have also thrown down the gauntlet to conquer dementia. The three companies collaborating on the development of Aribio's oral dementia treatment AR1001?Samjin Pharmaceutical and Neurofit?recently attended the 2024 BIO International Convention (BIO USA) held in San Diego, California, USA, pursuing active global expansion efforts both 'together and separately.'

Jaejun Jeong, CEO of Aribio, Jungil Bin, CEO of Neurofit, and Sumin Lee, Head of Research at Samjin Pharmaceutical, met in San Diego, California, USA, where the 2024 BIO International Convention (BIO USA) was held (from left)
[Photo by Chunhee Lee]

Aribio is currently conducting Phase 3 clinical trials of AR1001 involving 1,150 early-stage dementia patients across 11 countries, including Korea, the United States, and Europe. It is the first and only domestic dementia treatment candidate to reach the Phase 3 clinical trial stage. Neurofit, an AI solution company specializing in brain disease imaging, is contributing by providing imaging clinical trial contract research organization (CRO) services that analyze imaging data related to the trials. Meanwhile, Samjin Pharmaceutical is co-conducting the domestic Phase 3 clinical trials of AR1001, securing domestic distribution rights, and producing clinical-grade finished pharmaceuticals to support the project.

The three companies also maintain strong investment relationships. Aribio is a major shareholder of Samjin Pharmaceutical, holding 7.99% of its shares, positioned as a friendly stake by co-founders Jo Eui-hwan and Choi Seung-joo. Samjin Pharmaceutical also holds 5.23% of Aribio's shares. Additionally, Samjin Pharmaceutical made a strategic investment of 1 billion KRW in Neurofit in February.

At BIO USA, Aribio CEO Jeong Jae-jun expressed his appreciation for this collaboration, stating, "We receive a lot of support from Samjin Pharmaceutical and Neurofit." He added, "Personally, I believe it is beneficial for Korean companies to grow their capabilities together on the global stage. We collaborate with Samjin Pharmaceutical on production and with Neurofit on imaging." During BIO USA, Aribio handled about 70 out of 170 meeting requests related to AR1001, which is currently in Phase 3 trials. CEO Jeong said, "We are focusing discussions on marketing to bring AR1001 to market quickly and meet patients. Since we plan to use AR1001 produced by Samjin Pharmaceutical for global expansion, we expect Samjin to play a partner role not only in Korea but also globally."

Bin Jun-gil, CEO of Neurofit, is introducing the company's integrated solution for Alzheimer's disease dementia treatment, 'AquaAD,' in an interview conducted at the Neurofit booth set up at the 2024 Bio International Convention (BIO USA).
[Photo by Lee Chun-hee]

Neurofit attended BIO USA with the goal of strengthening its imaging CRO services involved in AR1001's clinical trials. Imaging CRO refers to specialized services that analyze images requiring evaluation during clinical trials. Neurofit CEO Bin Jun-gil said, "We are continuing various discussions with major dementia treatment developers, including big pharma companies. We confirmed that image analysis, which originally took up to a week when done manually, can now be completed in one day, minimizing human error."

Neurofit plans to globally launch AquaAD next month, a comprehensive solution related to dementia treatments. CEO Bin explained, "Dementia treatments require continuous imaging to first check the accumulation of the causative protein amyloid beta, then monitor side effects during treatment, and finally assess treatment efficacy. AquaAD is a solution that integrates all these analytical technologies."

Led by Research Director Lee Soo-min, who formed a team to attend BIO USA, Samjin Pharmaceutical aims to strengthen its treatment areas for neurological diseases such as epilepsy, in addition to dementia, while accelerating new drug development for antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and allergy treatments. Director Lee stated, "We held numerous meetings with global big pharma companies such as AbbVie and Novartis." Regarding AR1001, he said, "Even if a major company undertakes contract manufacturing (CMO) globally, Samjin Pharmaceutical wants to serve as a secondary manufacturing site for the drug." On collaboration with Neurofit, he added, "We are very interested in AI-based diagnostics and are accumulating data together. Based on the collected data, we plan to develop new mechanism-of-action therapies."

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