Curionet Announces Final Results of Telacebec Tuberculosis Phase 2A Clinical Trial in Published Paper

Antibacterial Effect Proven with Monotherapy
"A Case Not Seen with Other Antibiotics"
Featured Consecutively in Prestigious Journals

Innovative drug development company Qurient announced on the 1st that the final results paper of the Phase 2A clinical trial of the drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment 'Telacebec' has been published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM).

The paper provides a more detailed account of the Phase 2A clinical trial results of Telacebec, which were previously summarized in the 2020 global medical journal The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Telacebec is the only tuberculosis treatment that has demonstrated a statistically significant antibacterial effect within two weeks with monotherapy. Existing tuberculosis treatments only showed trends under the same conditions, without statistically confirmed effects.

Thanks to these innovative results, the Phase 2A clinical trial results of Telacebec were exceptionally published in NEJM, a journal that mainly features late-stage clinical trials and commercialized drugs, even before the final results were available. This is the first case for a domestic new drug research in Korea.

NEJM is the world's most prestigious medical journal with an impact factor of 96.2. Considering that well-known journals such as Nature, Cell, and Science have impact factors of 50.5, 45.5, and 44.7 respectively, this indicates its high influence.

Telacebec has attracted attention from global academic journals throughout its drug development process. The paper published in Nature Medicine in 2013 has maintained a citation rate in the top 2%, receiving high recognition in the academic community.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed) database, there are a total of 96 papers related to Telacebec. The combined impact factor of the journals in which these papers were published amounts to 671.08. Among these are many of the world's most prestigious journals, including NEJM, Nature Medicine, and Nature.

The cumulative publication record is an indicator that Telacebec continues to be recognized for its scientific validity and innovation, an achievement rarely seen among innovative new drugs developed domestically.

Telacebec shows high potential not only for tuberculosis but also for treating various intractable infectious diseases such as Buruli ulcer and Hansen's disease. This is due to its unique mechanism of action that blocks the energy metabolism of Mycobacterium. Telacebec is expected to become a key therapeutic agent that can cure these long-standing intractable diseases in a short period.

Qurient was recognized for developing the world's first cytochrome bc1 inhibitor class antibiotic and was granted the authority to directly select the suffix (-cebec) for the generic names of antibiotics in this class. Accordingly, all future cytochrome bc1 inhibitor antibiotics will use the suffix ‘-cebec’. This signifies that Qurient has left an important mark in the history of global antibiotic development.

Nam Gi-yeon, CEO of Qurient, said, "The tuberculosis clinical data, along with the recently disclosed interim results of the Buruli ulcer clinical trial, demonstrate that Telacebec is an innovative antibiotic unlike any seen before," adding, "Starting with Buruli ulcer, which is expected to receive the fastest approval, Telacebec will become an innovative new drug attracting global attention for tuberculosis and leprosy as well."

Cho Yong-jun, Chairman of Dongkoo Bio & Pharma, emphasized, "Telacebec is a new drug with the potential to treat intractable infectious diseases that humanity has not yet solved, based on its innovative mechanism of action," and added, "Qurient's publication of research results in world-class academic journals and the high praise received at the WHO meeting are important achievements that enhance the competitiveness of the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry."