[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Cellma Therapeutics announced on the 23rd that it is preparing to apply in Europe for global clinical trials to develop a treatment for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
Earlier, Cellma Therapeutics submitted a clinical trial application for the treatment to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in October and is undergoing additional document security procedures. In addition, in collaboration with Russia's Pharmsintez, the company is smoothly preparing for clinical trial approvals in four countries including Europe, though the exact countries have not yet been disclosed.
The COVID-19 treatment being developed by Cellma Therapeutics is a drug that has been used for a long time, and its safety in the human body has been proven. It is a drug that exhibits antiviral effects by activating the immune system within the body upon invasion by viruses or other pathogens, and it can respond to virus variants as well.
The company considers that, given the overall situation including the speed of new vaccine and treatment development and the surge in COVID-19 patients leading to increased treatment demand, creating a treatment using existing drugs with verified therapeutic efficacy is the most realistic countermeasure.
Dr. Inkyu Lee of Cellma Therapeutics stated, “There are recent concerns that treatments may not be necessary due to vaccine development, but the need for treatments is as significant as that for vaccines,” adding, “Given the active emergence of variants characteristic of the COVID-19 virus, vaccine development may have only temporary effects, and our goal is to expedite clinical trials for treatments and complete them by the first half of next year.”
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