InscoBio "Apimez Begins Animal Testing for Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment... Expanding Indications Based on Apitoxin"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] InscoBee announced on the 13th that its subsidiary Apimez has commenced animal efficacy experiments for the development of a rheumatoid arthritis treatment drug based on bee venom components.

Since the end of last year, Apimez has confirmed significant results regarding the efficacy of Apitoxin for rheumatoid arthritis through basic research including cell tests in collaboration with researchers from Catholic University. Based on this, they have officially started animal experiments through Notus, a clinical trial contract research organization (CRO) linked with the largest animal hospital in Korea.

Apimez's Apitoxin is already an approved new drug by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and has been recognized for its excellent efficacy in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Since the approved new drug’s indications have been expanded to include rheumatoid arthritis, the company explained that if therapeutic effects are confirmed through this animal experiment, it is expected to enter clinical trials sooner than other candidate substances.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a representative autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the synovium in joints, causing joint damage as well as various types of systemic organ involvement symptoms. Recently, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis has been occurring in children under 16 years old, increasing interest in treatments.

A company official stated, “Since Apimez’s Apitoxin has already been verified for efficacy as a new drug, we expect positive results in the rheumatoid arthritis animal experiments as well,” adding, “Based on the results of this experiment, we plan to prepare preclinical trials to confirm safety and then promptly proceed with clinical trials.”

He continued, “We expect that the rheumatoid arthritis treatment market, currently focused on disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy, can be partially replaced by domestic new drugs,” and added, “We will establish a drug repositioning strategy to apply existing drugs to new diseases and do our best to expand indications in the future.”