iNt Therapeutics Hosts 'Ion Channel Neuroscience New Drug Development Symposium'

On the 26th, Sungyoung Kim, head of the research institute at IN Therapeutics, gave a presentation at the "1st Ion Channel Neuroscience New Drug Development Symposium." (Photo by IN Therapeutics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Daewoong Pharmaceutical's new drug development specialist subsidiary, iNt Therapeutics, held a symposium to share the latest trends in neuroscience and research and development (R&D) achievements.

iNt Therapeutics announced on the 27th that it held the "1st Ion Channel-Neuroscience New Drug Development Symposium" on the 26th at Daewoong Pharmaceutical's new building Bear Hall in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

iNt Therapeutics organized this symposium to create a platform for industry and academic experts to share and communicate cases and trends in new drug development for neurological diseases, as the number of patients with neurological disorders, including degenerative brain diseases, is rapidly increasing but appropriate treatments are lacking.

Woo-taek Oh, Director of the Brain Science Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, said in his keynote speech, "I consider it very meaningful to have a place to learn about the trends and scientific knowledge of new drug development for neurological diseases," and added, "I hope that this symposium will serve as an opportunity for close communication between industry and academia in developing new drugs for neurological diseases."

Seong-young Kim, Head of Research at iNt Therapeutics, presented in the industry session the R&D achievements of a new drug candidate for osteoarthritis pain treatment currently undergoing Phase 1 clinical trials in Australia. Kim said, "It has been difficult to find a product that satisfies both efficacy and safety among existing osteoarthritis pain treatments, but iNt Therapeutics is striving to catch both rabbits," and added, "There is high interest from global pharmaceutical companies, and we expect it to become a blockbuster drug."

iNt Therapeutics plans to hold new drug development symposiums twice a year to provide a networking platform for sharing the latest trends in new drug development. The 2nd symposium is scheduled to be held in July in Jeju Island.

Jong-duk Park, CEO of iNt Therapeutics, said, "I hope this symposium will lead to active open collaboration between industry and academia," and added, "iNt Therapeutics will do its best in new drug development to ultimately alleviate the suffering of patients worldwide and improve their quality of life."

iNt Therapeutics is a new drug development specialist subsidiary of Daewoong Pharmaceutical. Based on the ion channel platform, it has eight pipelines including non-opioid analgesics, hearing loss treatments, and brain disease treatments. Among them, the non-opioid analgesic 'iN1011-N17' is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in Australia. It has demonstrated superior efficacy in preclinical studies compared to commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the opioid analgesic tramadol. Negotiations for technology licensing with several global pharmaceutical companies interested in non-opioid analgesics are also underway.