Hyundai Bioscience leads in the repurposing of Niclosamide

A research paper by a South Korean bio tech company that demonstrated the drug repurposing of Niclosamide, an anthelmintic known to have excellent therapeutic efficacy against novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), was published in the world-renowned SCI (Science and Technology Journal Citation Index)-level international journal and is attracting international attention.

Hyundai Bioscience (Symbol 048410), a KOSDAQ listed company, announced on April 8 that CNPharm, its major shareholding bio tech company, published a research paper that proves the successful repurposing (or repositioning) of Niclosamide for COVID-19 treatment by using a drug delivery system (DDS), an original technology of CNPharm. The paper was recently listed in Polymers, a world-renowned scientific journal in the field of polymer science. CNPharm also filed international patent applications on this DDS technology for repurposing Niclosamide as COVID-19 treatment.

Although Niclosamide has been found to be effective for various diseases so far, this is the first time that a paper demonstrating drug repurposing through various study results has been published in an SCI-level international journal. This means that the international pharmaceutical community has recognized that CNPharm, the parent company of Hyundai Bioscience, is leading the way to repurpose the anthelmintic drug. As a result, international interest in CP-COV03, an oral drug to combat COVID-19 developed by CNPharm, is expected to increase.

In the paper titled 'Niclosamide–Clay Intercalate Coated with Nonionic Polymer for Enhanced Bioavailability toward COVID-19 Treatment', an experimental result was also revealed that the bioavailability of the repurposed Niclosamide formulation using CNPharm's cationic drug delivery system (DDS) was increased by 60% compared to Yomesan, the current anthelmintic formulation of Niclosamide.

An official at Hyundai Bioscience stated that this is the first time that Niclosamide's bioavailability improvement for drug repurposing has been published in an international journal. In addition to COVID-19, we plan to expand the scope of repurposing so that it can be applied to various intractable diseases such as metastatic cancer and resistant cancer. In particular, it was reported that COVID-19 variants, which have recently raised concerns of the international community, can be suppressed by repurposed Niclosamide using CNPharm's drug delivery system. A follow-up study is in progress.

Niclosamide, which Bayer introduced in 1958, was selected as the No. 1 candidate for the treatment of COVID-19 among 48 major drugs in the world in April, 2020 by Institut Pasteur Korea. It is known as a candidate drug that can treat intractable diseases such as resistant cancer and metastatic cancer, as well as various viral diseases. However, due to its nature of anthelmintic drug, two difficulties exist such as a low absorption rate in the body and an extremely short half-life of the drug concentration in the blood.  These have acted as obstacles to repurposing of Niclosamide for decades.

Based on CNPharm's original technology, Hyundai Bioscience has dramatically improved the absorption rate and half-life of Niclosamide last year, developing CP-COV03, an oral treatment for COVID-19.  This aims to become the world's first oral drug for the treatment of the virus which is currently in preparations for clinical trials. CP-COV03 was confirmed from a recent animal testing to maintain fully effective drug concentration (IC100) in the blood, or 100% antiviral inhibitory concentration level, for more than 12 hours by single dose, and it is expected as a very probable candidate of the game changer to end the coronavirus pandemic.

About Hyundai Bioscience

HYUNDAI BIOSCIENCE is a biotechnology company that develops and commercializes bio-fusion technology with the purpose of delivering active ingredients safely and efficiently to targeted areas of the body. Hyundai Bioscience's Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Technology is a novel drug delivery system technology that allows the selective and effective delivery of active substances on the target area in combination with bio-friendly delivery vehicles. Applying its technology in the fields of tumor-targeted drugs and even skin & scalp care, Hyundai Bioscience will continue to expand its business scope by introducing innovative biotechnology and new effective products.