[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Dongkoo Bio & Pharma is showing strong performance. The news that D&D Pharmatech, a new drug development bio-venture, will simultaneously conduct Phase 2 clinical trials for new drug candidates treating degenerative brain diseases and fibrosis in the second half of the year appears to have influenced the stock price.
As of 11:08 AM on the 14th, Dongkoo Bio & Pharma is trading at 25,600 KRW, up 14.03%.
Seulgi Lee, CEO of D&D Pharmatech, stated, “We started a Phase 2 clinical trial for Parkinson's disease with the new drug candidate NLY01 in February this year, involving 240 patients, and plan to conduct a Phase 2 clinical trial for Alzheimer's dementia with about 300 patients in the second half of the year.”
She added, “We aim to develop the world's first Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's dementia treatments using a new mechanism that global pharmaceutical companies have not attempted.”
What draws attention is the new drug candidate 'NLY01,' which is the world's first to show efficacy simultaneously for Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's dementia. Starting from the hypothesis that the cause of degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's is brain inflammation, it has shown significant Phase 1 clinical results. The first dosing for the Phase 2 clinical trial for Parkinson's disease began in March, with results expected in the first half of 2022. The Phase 2 clinical trial for Alzheimer's dementia will also start in the second half of the year. It is unusual for a bio-venture, not a multinational pharmaceutical company, to conduct such large-scale clinical trials involving more than 200 to 300 patients.
D&D Pharmatech was founded in 2014 by Seulgi Lee, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and one of the top 1% researchers worldwide, and her father Kangchun Lee, a distinguished professor at Sungkyunkwan University College of Pharmacy. Scholars from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine participate as scientific co-founders. The company is simultaneously developing various pipelines through five U.S. subsidiaries, including Neuraly, which develops new drugs for brain diseases, and Seraly Fibrosis, which develops new drug treatments for various fibrotic diseases.
Through Series A and B investments last year, D&D Pharmatech secured a total of 160 billion KRW in funding for large-scale clinical trials. Recently, it passed the technical evaluation for a technology-specialized IPO and is pursuing a public offering. Dongkoo Bio & Pharma invested 3.1 billion KRW in D&D Pharmatech.
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