S.Korea Daewoong Pharma eyes Phase II trials of coronavirus drug, shares jump

Daewoong Pharma

03/12/2020 05:35

SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - South Korean drugmaker Daewoong
Pharma  069620.KS  said on Thursday it had sought regulatory
approval for Phase II trials of its anti-parasite niclosamide
drug to treat COVID-19 patients, sending its shares up nearly
6%. 
    Drugmakers worldwide are rushing to develop treatments for
the coronavirus, which has killed nearly 1.5 million people 
since it first emerged in China late last year.
    Daewoong Pharma, which has sought permission from South
Korea's food and drug safety ministry to hold Phase II clinical
trials of its coronavirus drug DWRX2003, said 200 infected
patients would participate.
    "When injecting a single dose of DWRX2003 to hamsters as
part of animal testing, they could see strong antiviral effect
of the drug by the third day and viral genome was barely found
by the fifth day," it said in a statement.
    The company said its anti-parasite nicholasmide drug
DWRX2003 does not need to be refrigerated, unlike some vaccine
candidates, which could reduce concerns over supplying the drug
domestically or exporting it.
    The viral effect of the drug helped minimize weight losses
in hamsters, potentially improving the survival rate, it added. 
    The company said it was also preparing to seek regulatory
approval for Phase II trials in the United States.
    In September, Daewoong launched another overseas human trial
of the drug in the Philippines.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2H31OD
    It had said in June that its anti-viral drug had completely
eliminated the novel coronavirus from animals' lungs during
pre-clinical testing.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2DL1N5
  
    

 (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1470;))