Notus, the 'First Gateway' in COVID-19 Treatment Development, Smiles Broadly with Consecutive Proofs of Treatment Efficacy

Proving Technical Skills from Toxicity Testing to Basic Efficacy Verification in Speed Competition
Flood of Requests for COVID-19 Treatment Experiments from the US and Other Countries
COVID-19 Crisis as an Opportunity to Introduce Notus to the World

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] As new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases continue to emerge worldwide, governments and new drug developers are investing enormous costs and manpower to develop treatments and vaccines. Notus, the largest contract research organization (CRO) in Korea, is receiving non-clinical experiment requests not only from domestic but also from overseas pharmaceutical companies.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 18th, Notus achieved sales of 14.6 billion KRW and operating profit of 2.2 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. This represents an increase of 34.3% and 59.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Notus is a bio consulting company specializing in veterinary knowledge. Since its establishment in 2012, it has been providing animal clinical services. It has been continuously growing by building a business model linked to new drug development consulting, non-clinical CRO, laboratory (LAB) consulting, and animal bio.

Although most industries experienced poor performance as COVID-19 spread worldwide, Notus was able to achieve favorable results mainly by providing specialized services in the efficacy evaluation sector. Notus's non-clinical CRO business is growing alongside the growth of the domestic pharmaceutical bio industry, increased investment in new drug development, and government support. Non-clinical CRO sales have shown an annual growth rate in the 20% range.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also served as an opportunity for Notus to showcase its technological capabilities globally. Kim Dohyung, CEO of Notus, explained in an interview with an economic magazine last April, "It was not easy for domestic CRO companies to secure orders from global pharmaceutical companies," but added, "Since the COVID-19 outbreak, requests to domestic CROs have increased."

Having strengths in the efficacy testing field is one of the advantages in the COVID-19 treatment development sector, which is characterized by speed competition. Unlike toxicity tests that follow manuals, efficacy tests require CRO institutions to have experimental experience with related items. Notus has overwhelming experience in efficacy evaluation, having conducted many efficacy assessments with major domestic and international pharmaceutical companies.

Efficacy testing must provide overall consulting beyond the level requested by clients. Since experiments are conducted on living organisms, actual tests may reveal not only the intended therapeutic effects but also other effects or side effects. For example, discovering a blood pressure-lowering effect after administering an arthritis treatment.

In April alone, ten companies requested Notus to test the efficacy of COVID-19 treatments. The number of pharmaceutical companies declaring their intention to develop treatments has increased, and the number of candidate substances known to be effective is gradually rising, boosting Notus's value. Cellmat Therapeutics requested Notus to verify the COVID-19 virus suppression effect of 'Neovir,' an interferon preparation. Notus forecasts that more than 100 companies will enter the COVID-19 market domestically by the second half of this year. Moreover, in major advanced countries such as the United States and Europe, many laboratories have closed due to the severity of the COVID-19 situation, leading overseas pharmaceutical companies to also inquire with Notus.

Among the pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 treatments with Notus, Ilyang Pharmaceutical recently confirmed the efficacy of a new drug candidate in inhibiting virus proliferation without cytotoxic effects. Antiviral efficacy analysis tests observed virus proliferation inhibition compared to the COVID-19 single treatment group. It was also proven that no cytotoxicity was observed in any test substance treatment group.

Daewoong Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Daewoong Group, developed a new formulation (DWRX2003) last year that maintains blood concentration of niclosamide. Through joint research with Notus, they have been pursuing the development of treatments for intractable lung diseases. Since profits are shared if successful, Notus's profits could surge if development succeeds. Daewoong Therapeutics is developing technology to treat COVID-19 by maintaining blood concentration using DWRX2003 applied to niclosamide.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Daewoong Therapeutics confirmed a clear virus infection improvement effect in animal efficacy tests of the COVID-19 treatment DWRX2003. Daewoong Therapeutics plans to continue non-clinical tests such as efficacy and toxicity tests on additional animal models. Daewoong Pharmaceutical confirmed that administering the anthelmintic DWRX2003 to ferrets infected with COVID-19 completely eliminated the virus within three days. As the virus disappeared, inflammatory cytokine secretion was suppressed, and no inflammation occurred in the lungs.

Notus was listed on November 27 last year with a public offering price of 20,000 KRW. The stock price, which rose to 39,200 KRW the day after listing, fell to 10,100 KRW on March 17. Since then, despite the COVID-19 situation, the stock price has steadily risen, recognized as a listed company that has secured profit stability.