Naibec and UK Biosa Collaborate to Develop World's First Oral Peptide Drug for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Naivek, a bio company specializing in peptide fusion technology, has signed a joint research agreement with the UK bio company 'Intract Pharma' for new drug development.

Naivek announced on the 2nd that it has entered into a joint research agreement with Intract Pharma in the UK to optimize the development of its independently developed oral inflammatory bowel disease treatment pipeline.

Intract Pharma is a bio-specialized company spun off from University College London, University of London, UK, and possesses proprietary oral formulation technology that efficiently delivers drugs to the intestines. It has been recognized for its external technological capabilities, having conducted joint research with various global pharmaceutical companies such as Janssen and Merck.

Under this agreement, Naivek will supply the inflammatory bowel disease treatment candidate 'NIPEP-IBD' based on its independently developed 'Topscavery Peptide,' and Intract Pharma plans to optimize the oral formulation platform based on Naivek's candidate substance and conduct efficacy verification.

While there have been cases of developing oral treatments for autoimmune diseases such as antibodies, this is the world's first development of a peptide-based candidate substance as an IBD treatment.

Naivek holds all technical rights to the developed inflammatory bowel disease treatment, and upon verification of the efficacy of the oral pill at the preclinical stage through joint research with Intract Pharma, clinical phase 1 will be initiated immediately.

A Naivek official stated, "Intract Pharma is the most suitable bio company to verify the oral formulation independently developed by Naivek because it has extensive experience collaborating with global pharmaceutical companies such as Janssen, Merck, and AbbVie based on its oral formulation technology."

He added, "There is a high possibility of success in verifying the efficacy and optimization of the candidate substance through joint research, which will further accelerate the development of new drugs for inflammatory bowel disease treatment. Since clinical phase 1 is expected to proceed smoothly within next year, this joint research will serve as a turning point to accelerate not only additional contracts with Intract Pharma but also technology transfer negotiations with other pharmaceutical companies."

Naivek applied its proprietary drug delivery platform technology to the inflammatory bowel disease treatment 'NIPEP-IBD' and succeeded in developing not only injectable formulations but also oral formulations. Unlike existing treatments that only suppress inflammation, Naivek's NIPEP-IBD has the function of regenerating the intestinal mucosa damaged by inflammation to normal levels, attracting significant interest from global big pharma companies.

NIPEP-IBD has already completed preclinical toxicity tests in injectable form, and the oral formulation has been verified through animal experiments to have no difference in efficacy compared to the injectable form, so the company explains that there is a high possibility of smooth progress to clinical trials.