[Special Stock] Golfzon Newdin and Ybrain Reap 5-Year Investment Rewards... World's First Home Treatment for Depression

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Golfzon Newdin Holdings is showing strong performance. The news that Wibrain, in which it has invested shares, successfully completed Phase 3 clinical trials for the indication of monotherapy for depression appears to have influenced the stock price.

At 10:24 AM on the 25th, Golfzon Newdin Holdings was trading at 5,910 KRW, up 13.0% from the previous day.

The completion of the home-based Phase 3 clinical trial for depression treatment is the world's first. Wibrain evaluated the efficacy and safety of TDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) treatment for improving depressive symptoms in 65 patients diagnosed with mild to moderate major depressive disorder during the clinical trial.

Patients used the electronic medicine for 30 minutes daily over six weeks. More than 50% of patients with major depressive disorder showed improvement in depressive symptoms and recovered to the normal range. Efficacy was confirmed not only in the depression scale, the clinical evaluation index, but also symptom improvement was observed in the anxiety scale.

The clinical trial is significant in that it was conducted 100% as home treatment. When using electronic medicine installed in hospitals, patients must visit the hospital daily, resulting in low participation rates and fewer treatment sessions. Outpatient treatment has limitations such as slower clinical progress and reduced efficacy. In contrast, Wibrain’s hospital-home linked electronic medicine platform can improve the clinical speed of real-world efficacy by more than three times and is also easy to apply at home.

Based on the meaningful results of this clinical trial, Wibrain plans to apply for marketing approval and integrated review for new medical technology evaluation in October. Recently, the international guidelines in this field announced the evidence level for monotherapy of depression as A (definite efficacy), which is expected to greatly increase the possibility of new medical technology registration.

A Wibrain official said, “We expanded the indication to monotherapy for depression and secured competitive clinical results, achieving a significant milestone as a leading company in electronic medicine platform technology. This will be an important opportunity as electronic medicine is likely to be commercialized in earnest.”

He added, “With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients suffering from COVID blue symptoms such as depression and lethargy has greatly increased, so it is expected that depression electronic medicine can also be used to improve COVID blue symptoms at home in the future.”

Meanwhile, Wibrain is also conducting the world’s first home-based Phase 3 clinical trial in the field of dementia electronic medicine. It is being conducted on 120 patients with mild dementia at seven university hospitals and is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

Golfzon Newdin Holdings signed an investment contract with Wibrain, a startup company related to neuroscience medical devices, in 2015. As of the end of the first half of the year, it holds a 7.52% stake.