15 domestic pharmaceuticals, focus on 'COVID-19' treatment

Expansion of new drug discovery and treatment areas including 4 government agencies

The need for public-private cooperation to conquer COVID-19

Domestic pharmaceutical bio companies and government agencies are concentrating on developing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

 

In response to COVID-19, opinions are urged to strengthen government support and expand public-private cooperation in order to preemptively respond to similar infectious diseases.

 

According to the KPBMA, 15 domestic pharmaceutical bio companies are undertaking or preparing to develop COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.

 

Four government agencies have also started to develop their own vaccines and treatments.

 

In the case of preventive vaccines, the development is centered on companies that already have development capabilities such as flu vaccines such as GC Pharma or SK Bioscience.

 

As they have the capacity to produce their own vaccines, they will be able to supply domestically if they successfully develop vaccines.

 

However, even if the vaccine is immune to COVID-19, it will take about 1 year and 6 months to confirm the safety and effectiveness.

 

Therefore, the vaccine should be developed in the long term.

 

Development Status of Korean Pharmaceutical Company for COVID-19 related vaccines (Source: the KPBMA)

In the case of therapeutics, development will be done by finding new candidates that can cure COVID-19, or by verifying the efficacy of COVID-19 in existing drugs.

 

Hanmi, Celltrion, Komipharm, Immunemed, and Panafax are among the leading companies that are actively developing COVID-19 treatments.

 

In particular, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and the Pasteur Institute of Korea are expected to find candidates for COVID-19 therapeutic drugs by analyzing the drug efficacy of 5000 drugs last month and provide them to leading doctors by early next month.

 

Immunemed is launching a clinical trial of its own antiviral drug for the treatment of COVID-19 and is currently preparing for phase II after completing phase 1.

 

Komipharm and Cellivery will be conducting clinical trials as candidates to suppress cytokines, an immune overexpression reaction.

 

Development Status of Korean Pharmaceutical Company for COVID-19 related treatment (Source: the KPBMA)

Public-private cooperation models are also being activated, in which domestic government agencies, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies converge to develop vaccines and treatments.

 

The Korea National Institute of Health has recently announced eight research projects for the development of rapid diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics necessary for quarantine.

 

The Ministry of Science and ICT is conducting collaborative research with various research institutes in Korea such as Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology.

 

As the development of vaccines and treatments is difficult to achieve in a short period of time, in terms of regulations and technical aspects, such public-private cooperation is expected to speed up development and increase the probability of success.

 

The KPBMA stressed that benchmark overseas cases, such as the European Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and the National Institutes of Health's AMP (New Drug Development Promotion Cooperation), should be benchmarked to accelerate the development of vaccines and treatments, and increase the possibility of development completion.

 

The IMI is a joint venture between the European Commission and members of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), which is one of the world's largest public-private partnerships in the field of biohealthcare.

 

Academia, industry, patient groups, regulatory and medical technology evaluation agencies have joined together to carry out a variety of projects, and invested €45 million (approximately ₩59 billion) on COVID-19 to develop therapeutics and diagnostic products.

 

In addition, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an international non-profit organization for the prevention of infectious diseases and vaccine development, is supported by four governments, as well as by non-profit foundations such as the Bill Gates Foundation.

 

Current Status of government-affiliated organization for COVID-19 related R&D (Source:the KPBMA)

In Korea, public-private cooperation projects are under way, supported by the government, including ₩36.8 billion in R&D projects related to COVID-19, especially in universities and government-funded research institutes).

 

However, it is pointed out that public-private cooperation system should be established in order to increase the effectiveness of the project, such as bold government support and research results leading to the actual product development and release.

 

Hee-Mok Won, President of the KPBMA, said that special measures are needed to protect medicinal sovereignty, including the rapid development of vaccines and treatments in national disaster situations.

 

Also, He added that he will overcome the crisis based on public-private cooperation supported by the government in the pharmaceutical bio industry's R & D capacity.

 

Currently, alternative medicines used in COVID-19 include AIDS treatment Kaletra, malaria treatment Chloroquine, ebola treatment Remdesivir, swine flu treatment Avigan, antiviral (interferon) combination therapy, and hepatitis C treatment Ribavirin.