NexTurnBio Subsidiary Rosvivo Enters World's First Animal Pharmaceutical Market Utilizing Genetic Material

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Nexten Bio announced on the 16th that its U.S. subsidiary RossBivo is entering the global market for animal pharmaceuticals utilizing genetic material for the first time in the world.

According to the "Korea Pet Report" published by Kookmin Bank in 2021, as of 2020, the total population raising pets in Korea was 14.48 million, with pet-owning households accounting for 3.129 million households, or 15% of all households. Accordingly, the pet market size is also rapidly growing.

Additionally, according to Nexten Bio, the Korea Rural Economic Institute projected that the domestic pet market size grew from 1.9 trillion KRW in 2015 to 3.4 trillion KRW in 2020 and is expected to reach the 6 trillion KRW range by 2027. In particular, the animal pharmaceutical market is showing remarkable growth.

The Korea Animal Pharmaceutical Association announced in 2021 that the market size for domestic animal pharmaceuticals, animal quasi-drugs, and animal medical devices was 1.3481 trillion KRW, a 10% increase compared to 2020, and is expected to continue high growth in the future.

In line with this market situation, the pharmaceutical and bio industries are entering the specialized pet pharmaceutical market. They are conducting clinical trials using substances known to be effective in humans, ranging from obesity, diabetes, cognitive function improvement, to anticancer drugs. The industry expects that successful development of specialized pet medicines will secure sales and also provide momentum for human drug development.

GNT Pharma, which launched Korea’s first domestic new drug in May 2021, introduced the cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) new drug "Jedacure" (active ingredient Crisdesalazine), known as a dementia treatment for dogs, and partnered with Yuhan Corporation to enter over 1,300 animal hospitals, recording sales exceeding 10 billion KRW in just a year and a half. The substance "Crisdesalazine" was originally developed as a dementia treatment for humans, but after confirming significant effects in preclinical trials on dementia animals, it was commercialized first as an animal treatment.

Most drug development proceeds to human clinical trials after animal model trials using mice. However, conducting clinical trials on dogs before humans has the advantage of predicting the likelihood of success as a treatment and reducing clinical costs and time.

Since there are many similarities in drug action between pets and humans, the industry aims to first prove effectiveness as animal treatments and keep in mind the extension to human treatment development.

Especially for elderly dogs and cats, the incidence of obesity and diabetes is increasing, but currently, there are no oral treatments and effective injectable treatments are also lacking.

In this situation, a domestic company has expressed its ambition to introduce the world’s first complete cure for animal diabetes and is conducting clinical trials. RX Bio Co., Ltd., in which RossBivo Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Nexten Bio, is the largest shareholder, is developing diabetes and obesity treatments for dogs and cats.

The company’s goal is to create excellent diabetes and obesity treatments by activating pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin based on micro ribonucleic acid (miRNA) technology.

RX Bio has secured substances from RossBivo, Nexten Bio’s U.S. subsidiary developing diabetes and obesity treatments for humans by discovering miRNAs that restore pancreatic cell function for the first time in the world, and plans to begin full-scale toxicity testing starting next month.

The company is located in the building of the Korean Veterinary Medical Association in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Since many patients visit the large animal hospital within the building, recruiting animals necessary for clinical trials is expected to be smooth, enabling rapid experiments. This is also expected to invigorate RossBivo’s new drug development for humans.

Along with the growth of the domestic pet market, the pet pharmaceutical market is also expanding, and the release of various specialized medicines and the strong performance of domestic companies are highly anticipated.