Ildong Pharmaceutical Group to Seek New Drug Partnerships at JP Morgan Conference

Ildong Pharmaceutical Group announced on January 7 that its research and development (R&D) affiliates will participate in the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, United States, from January 12 to 15, seeking new business opportunities.

All of the group’s R&D affiliates will be present, including Unovia, a subsidiary dedicated to new drug R&D; Idience, a company specializing in oncology drug development; and iReed BMS, a discovery company for new drug candidates.

The exterior view of Ildong Pharmaceutical headquarters in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Ildong Pharmaceutical

During the event, Ildong Pharmaceutical Group plans to hold partnering meetings with various global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, focusing on collaborations related to new drug commercialization, including joint development, investment attraction, and licensing out (technology transfer).

Ildong Pharmaceutical Group currently has a robust pipeline of promising new drug candidates in the areas of metabolic diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, autoimmune diseases, and solid tumors, and is actively conducting clinical development and commercialization efforts.

At this event, Ildong Pharmaceutical and Unovia will hold partnering meetings regarding 'ID110521156,' a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist targeting obesity and diabetes, as well as 'padoprazan,' a P-CAB (potassium-competitive acid blocker) class drug for the treatment of peptic ulcers.

ID110521156 is an oral synthetic new drug candidate based on small molecule compounds, which differentiates itself from existing peptide injectables in terms of pharmacological properties, manufacturing efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and user convenience.

Notably, it maintains effective blood concentration for over 18 hours without drug accumulation in the body, making it ideal for commercialization as an oral (tablet) therapy that can be taken once daily for long-term use due to its optimal pharmacological profile.

In a recently completed Phase 1 clinical trial, ID110521156 demonstrated up to 13.8% weight loss over four weeks, and showed a favorable safety profile with no significant adverse reactions such as gastrointestinal disorders or hepatotoxicity, which are common side effects of existing treatments.

Padoprazan, the P-CAB drug, is currently under joint development with Daewon Pharmaceutical in Korea. It recently entered Phase 3 clinical trials to evaluate its efficacy and safety in patients with erosive and non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease.

In earlier Phase 1 trials, padoprazan showed a faster onset of action and superior acid suppression compared to existing P-CAB drugs, and was found to have a low risk of drug-drug interactions (DDI) and hepatotoxicity, confirming its differentiated pharmacological safety profile.

In Phase 2 trials, padoprazan demonstrated significantly higher efficacy than the active control group in terms of mucosal healing rate and improvement of subjective symptoms in patients with erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease, and also showed excellent safety and tolerability.

iReed BMS plans to present its new drug candidate 'IL21120033' for autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis.

IL21120033 is a first-in-class 'Ago-PAM' innovative drug that directly activates receptors and enhances the binding of natural ligands through a dual mechanism as both an agonist and a positive allosteric modulator (PAM), thereby increasing functional efficiency.

In preclinical studies, IL21120033 was shown to normalize the function of the chemokine receptor ACKR3, which acts as a scavenger for the inflammatory chemokine CXCL12, effectively removing CXCL12 and blocking tissue infiltration of inflammatory immune cells, thus suppressing immune cell activation.

Idience, the oncology drug development specialist, will introduce its promising oncology pipeline, including 'benadaparib,' an oral targeted therapy in the PARP inhibitor class, as well as pan-KRAS inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC).

A representative from Ildong Pharmaceutical Group stated, "During the event, we plan to conduct various activities to create global business opportunities, including pre-arranged partnering meetings by affiliate and pipeline, and discussions on alliances related to new drug commercialization."