Zemvax, GV1001 Patent Application for Depression Prevention and Treatment

GemVax & Kael announced on the 12th that it has completed the domestic formal application and PCT international application for the multi-mechanism drug ‘GV1001’ for the prevention and treatment of depression.

According to the newly filed patent, GV1001 reduces the concentration of stress hormones in the blood and improves various symptoms caused by depression. It is expected to have an effective antidepressant effect with few side effects, including adverse reactions.

According to the 2021 Mental Health Survey by the National Center for Mental Health under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the lifetime prevalence of depression is 7.7%, and the socioeconomic loss caused by depression amounts to 2.0525 trillion KRW.

Depression is also a common comorbidity in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy. It is known that about 30-50% of Alzheimer’s patients and about 40-50% of Parkinson’s patients develop depression.

The number of depression patients is gradually increasing, but there are various concerns about side effects when using treatments. There is a need for safe and effective antidepressant drugs.

According to GemVax, administration of GV1001 to animal models of depression showed improvements in anxiety, depression, and memory loss caused by stress in behavioral assessments. An interesting effect of reducing the blood concentration of corticosterone, a stress hormone, was confirmed.

GV1001 is a peptide drug candidate synthesized using a 16-amino acid sequence from the core part of human telomerase. It is a multi-mechanism drug that simultaneously exhibits various effects such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, mitochondrial protection, and improvement of the brain’s immune environment.

It has shown efficacy not only in various cell and animal experiments but also in clinical trials involving patients with Alzheimer’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. So far, multiple studies have demonstrated the drug’s safety by finding no cytotoxicity or fatal side effects.

GemVax has continuously conducted research and development to prove the efficacy of GV1001 for various indications. To date, it holds over 380 domestic and international patents in diverse fields such as anti-inflammation, anticancer, antifibrosis, and anti-aging.

A GemVax official stated, “Through the patent application, we have once again proven the value of GV1001 as a multi-mechanism drug. With the revealed preventive and therapeutic effects of GV1001 on depression as a treatment for various neurodegenerative diseases, we can expect not only disease treatment but also improvement in the quality of life for patients suffering from depression.”