From the left, Jaimedi Director Byunggi Kim, Chief Technology Officer Hyuksang Kwon, CEO Sunghoon Kim, KDDF Director Hyunsang Mook, Head of Department Sunnan Kim, Senior Researcher Aera Cho, and Head of R&D Team Wonjung Lee. / Photo by Jaimedi
Zymedi is embarking on the development of a multi-mechanism candidate drug for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Zymedi (CEO Kim Seong-hoon) announced on the 29th that its research project titled “Development of a multi-mechanism NASH candidate drug through macrophage infiltration and regulation of the liver microenvironment” has been selected for the 2023 first phase of the National New Drug Development Project’s “New Drug R&D Ecosystem Establishment Research,” led by the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF, Director Muk Hyun-sang), and that a contract has been signed.
With this selection, Zymedi will receive research and development funding worth 900 million KRW over the next two years to derive a multi-mechanism NASH candidate drug.
NASH is a disease in which fat accumulates in the liver due to various causes, potentially causing organ damage or fibrosis. It is predicted to affect more than 30% of adults worldwide, but currently, there are no FDA-approved preventive or therapeutic drugs available.
Zymedi has focused on a new therapeutic target called “KARS1 (lysyl tRNA synthetase 1),” a novel factor regulating monocytes and macrophages, which are emerging as major causes of NASH.
The research team secured their own research results showing that KARS1 plays a crucial role in macrophage infiltration into the liver and the creation of an inflammatory environment in the liver microenvironment during NASH progression. They verified broad therapeutic efficacy in various NASH disease models using lead compounds that inhibit KARS1.
Dr. Kwon Hyuk-sang, Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Zymedi, explained, “NASH is a disease caused by various factors, presenting complex symptoms such as inflammation, fibrosis, steatosis, and liver function impairment. Future drugs must be able to broadly prevent or treat these complex pathological phenomena. The KARS1 inhibitory candidate drug under study at Zymedi is expected to be an innovative therapeutic agent capable of broadly suppressing the various pathological features seen in NASH.”
Kim Seong-hoon, CEO of Zymedi, emphasized, “We expect the creation of a first-in-class new drug based on Zymedi’s unique target, fundamentally differentiated from existing development compounds. It will be a game changer in the NASH treatment market as a drug that can be used in combination or co-administration with multi-mechanism agents.”
Zymedi was established with the goal of developing innovative new drugs to treat patients with intractable diseases who do not respond to existing therapies. Currently, it possesses an innovative new drug development platform technology utilizing the diverse pathophysiological regulatory functions performed by human Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases (ARS) and is developing anticancer agents, antifibrotic agents, and immunomodulatory therapies.
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