[Special Stock] LegoChem Bio, Remdesivir 50 Times More Potent COVID-19 Treatment... Leading Expert in Infectious Diseases

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] LegoChem Biosciences is showing strong performance. The news that it has acquired candidate substances for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics appears to have influenced its stock price. The substance is known to have 50 times higher efficacy than Remdesivir.

As of 9:28 AM on the 9th, LegoChem Biosciences is trading at 92,300 KRW, up 2.56% from the previous day.

The New Virus Fusion Research Group under the Ministry of Science and ICT (hosted by the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology) held a technology transfer agreement ceremony on the 9th for COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic devices.

They are transferring technology related to a self-developed high-efficacy COVID-19 vaccine candidate substance to HK Innoen (formerly CJ Healthcare). This candidate substance is a vaccine material synthesized with antigens, showing excellent neutralizing antibody capacity, which indicates vaccine efficacy. Neutralizing antibodies bind to the surface of virus particles to prevent viral infection. Neutralizing antibody capacity refers to the ability to eliminate the infectivity of the virus.

The COVID-19 therapeutic candidate substance is being acquired by LegoChem Biosciences. The goal is to develop it as a universal coronavirus therapeutic. The candidate substance was selected from 200,000 compounds in the Korea Chemical Bank. It has been developed as a therapeutic for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) for the past four years. Since COVID-19 and MERS originate from the same virus family, the research group explains that it can be utilized as a universal therapeutic to treat coronaviruses.

The substance’s efficacy is about 50 times higher than Remdesivir, which has been granted emergency use authorization in the U.S. for COVID-19 treatment. While it has excellent drug properties and physical characteristics, it is also evaluated to have low toxicity, making it highly likely to be developed as a new drug.

CEO Yongju Kim has experience from the initial candidate substance development to approval and global technology transfer of the first FDA-approved domestic new drug, the antibiotic Pactiv, as well as antiviral agents. He is currently regarded as the top authority in South Korea in the field of infectious disease therapeutics, including superbugs. Following the completion of technology acquisition, LegoChem Biosciences plans to conduct additional preclinical experiments and swiftly proceed to clinical trials.