[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Gold Pacific's subsidiary APRG has succeeded in discovering an additional candidate substance for the development of a COVID-19 treatment following 'APRG64,' which is currently undergoing clinical trials in India. APRG plans to jointly develop a COVID-19 treatment based on the newly discovered candidate substance with major Chinese pharmaceutical companies under the supervision of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
APRG announced on the 3rd that it has succeeded in discovering a candidate substance for the development of a COVID-19 treatment. The newly discovered candidate substance is derived from natural plant materials and is based on an 'autophagy' mechanism that blocks viral proliferation and replication inside infected cells, thereby eliminating the virus.
In addition to APRG64, which is undergoing clinical trials in India, APRG has been conducting joint research with the 'Chinese People's Liberation Army 302 Hospital' since mid-this year to discover additional candidate substances for COVID-19 treatment. The research results related to the discovery of candidate substances have already been submitted to 'Phytomedicine,' a renowned international journal in the field of natural products, and are expected to be published soon.
An APRG official stated, "The research team confirmed the autophagy mechanism in additional plants such as Rhus verniciflua, Acer, Sorbus, Ligularia, Houttuynia, Eucommia, Nymphaea, and Punica granatum peel, and documented the results in a paper," adding, "Based on these research results, we are currently in discussions with major Chinese pharmaceutical companies aiming for joint development of a COVID-19 treatment through cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce."
At the ‘Bio Health Worldwide Online (BHWO) 2020’ held last month, APRG conducted discussions on the development of COVID-19 treatments using the newly discovered candidate substances with major Chinese pharmaceutical companies such as 'Tongrentang,' which boasts a 350-year tradition, and 'Bio Health Park,' a pharmaceutical company located in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.
A Gold Pacific official said, "In addition to APRG64, which is being developed as a COVID-19 treatment, we have succeeded in newly identifying a large number of natural materials containing the autophagy mechanism," and added, "We will accelerate the development of COVID-19 treatments through cooperation with major pharmaceutical companies such as Tongrentang."
He continued, "While progressing with COVID-19 development based on APRG64, APRG has already completed the establishment of a 'global consortium' with Korea Pharma, Genencell, and the Korea Institute of Drug Research, so clinical trials for the new candidate substances can proceed rapidly," and added, "In particular, Korea Pharma has expressed a strong willingness to actively participate in the development of COVID-19 treatments using the new candidate substances."
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