SEOUL, South Korea,
April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A
research paper by a South Korean bio tech company that demonstrated
the drug repurposing of Niclosamide, an anthelmintic known to have
excellent therapeutic efficacy against novel coronavirus infection
(COVID-19), was published in the world-renowned SCI (Science and
Technology Journal Citation Index)-level international journal and
is attracting international attention.
Hyundai Bioscience (Symbol 048410), a KOSDAQ listed company,
announced on April 8 that CNPharm,
its major shareholding bio tech company, published a research paper
that proves the successful repurposing (or repositioning) of
Niclosamide for COVID-19 treatment by using a drug delivery system
(DDS), an original technology of CNPharm. The paper was recently
listed in Polymers, a world-renowned scientific journal in
the field of polymer science. CNPharm also filed international
patent applications on this DDS technology for repurposing
Niclosamide as COVID-19 treatment.
Although Niclosamide has been found to be effective for various
diseases so far, this is the first time that a paper demonstrating
drug repurposing through various study results has been published
in an SCI-level international journal. This means that the
international pharmaceutical community has recognized that CNPharm,
the parent company of Hyundai Bioscience, is leading the way to
repurpose the anthelmintic drug. As a result, international
interest in CP-COV03, an oral drug to combat COVID-19 developed by
CNPharm, is expected to increase.
In the paper titled 'Niclosamide–Clay
Intercalate Coated with Nonionic Polymer for Enhanced
Bioavailability toward COVID-19 Treatment', an experimental
result was also revealed that the bioavailability of the repurposed
Niclosamide formulation using CNPharm's cationic drug delivery
system (DDS) was increased by 60% compared to Yomesan, the
current anthelmintic formulation of Niclosamide.
An official at Hyundai
Bioscience stated that this
is the first time that Niclosamide's bioavailability improvement
for drug repurposing has been published in an international
journal. In addition to COVID-19,
we plan to expand the scope of repurposing so that it can be
applied to various intractable diseases such as metastatic cancer
and resistant cancer. In
particular, it was reported that COVID-19 variants, which have
recently raised concerns of the international community, can be
suppressed by repurposed Niclosamide using CNPharm's drug delivery
system. A follow-up study is in progress.
Niclosamide, which Bayer introduced in 1958, was selected as the
No. 1 candidate for the treatment of COVID-19 among 48 major drugs
in the world in April, 2020 by Institut Pasteur Korea. It is
known as a candidate drug that can treat intractable diseases such
as resistant cancer and metastatic cancer, as well as various viral
diseases. However, due to its nature of anthelmintic drug, two
difficulties exist such as a low absorption rate in the body and an
extremely short half-life of the drug concentration in the
blood. These have acted as obstacles to repurposing of
Niclosamide for decades.
Based on CNPharm's original technology, Hyundai Bioscience has
dramatically improved the absorption rate and half-life of
Niclosamide last year, developing CP-COV03, an oral treatment for
COVID-19. This aims to become the world's first oral drug for
the treatment of the virus which is currently in preparations for
clinical trials. CP-COV03 was confirmed from a recent animal
testing to maintain fully effective drug concentration (IC100) in
the blood, or 100% antiviral inhibitory concentration level, for
more than 12 hours by single dose, and it is expected as a very
probable candidate of the game changer to end the coronavirus
pandemic.
About Hyundai Bioscience
HYUNDAI BIOSCIENCE is a biotechnology company that develops and
commercializes bio-fusion technology with the purpose of delivering
active ingredients safely and efficiently to targeted areas of the
body. Hyundai Bioscience's Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Technology is a
novel drug delivery system technology that allows the selective and
effective delivery of active substances on the target area in
combination with bio-friendly delivery vehicles. Applying its
technology in the fields of tumor-targeted drugs and even skin
& scalp care, Hyundai Bioscience will continue to expand its
business scope by introducing innovative biotechnology and new
effective products.
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SOURCE Hyundai Bioscience