"Administering Medication to Elderly Patients at Seoul National University Hospital"... Accelerating Development of COVID-19 Therapeutics

On the 5th, medical staff are conducting patient treatment simulation exercises in a COVID-19 patient ward set up at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital has prepared a total of 30 beds in one ward for COVID-19 patients and suspected cases, and will start admitting COVID-19 patients from this day. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The domestic bio-venture industry is accelerating the development of treatments for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to the industry on the 6th, ImmunMed is administering the antiviral drug candidate VSF to severe patients aged 80 and above at Seoul National University Hospital. Previously, ImmunMed received 'emergency use approval for treatment purposes' from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) to use VSF for treating COVID-19 patients.

In the absence of COVID-19 treatments, while global pharmaceutical companies' drugs such as AbbVie's AIDS treatment Kaletra are being used, VSF is the first domestically produced medicine used in medical settings. Kim Yoon-won, CEO of ImmunMed, said, "It will help treat pneumonia of moderate severity or higher."

The treatment approved by the MFDS is 'HzVSFv13ju,' an injectable form of the clinical trial drug VSF. Phase 1 clinical trials were conducted in 2018, and the results report will be released next month. The MFDS's approval basis, 'use of clinical trial drugs for treatment purposes,' allows use before product approval when there are no alternative treatments or in life-threatening diseases.

With the global pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences' Ebola treatment Remdesivir becoming available for COVID-19 patients in Korea, brain disease treatment developer KainosMed has also started developing a COVID-19 treatment. A KainosMed official explained, "The compound under our own research has similarities in mechanism and chemical structure to Remdesivir." KainosMed is currently verifying the antiviral efficacy of the compound.

Domestic animal pharmaceutical company Komipharm has applied to the MFDS for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the new drug Panafix under development. Komipharm explained that it has efficacy in suppressing the 'cytokine storm,' known as a major cause of pneumonia, a key symptom of COVID-19. Regarding this, Komipharm announced on the afternoon of the 26th of last month, "We have applied for an emergency clinical trial plan with the MFDS for Panafix." However, the MFDS stated, "There is no such system as an emergency clinical trial," and added, "If a clinical trial is requested, we will review it as quickly as possible."

It is explained that commercialization of COVID-19 treatments could be possible within days. An MFDS official said, "In the case of Remdesivir, approval was granted four days after application," and added, "If the requirements are met, approval can be obtained quickly."