Huons said Wednesday that it confirmed the inhibitory effect of Zephirus (ingredient: budesonide, salmeterol), which is being developed as a Covid-19 treatment by drug-repurposing, against the coronavirus in a cellular test.

Zephirus decreased Covid-19 GH clade's genetic expression, a variant virus most widely spread in Korea, in an infected human lung cell, it said.

The inhibitory effect increased up to 39 percent, and cytotoxicity was not observed.

The company's product is a combination drug of budesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) that relieves lungs' inflammation, and salmeterol, a long-acting beta-2 adrenergic receptor agonist (LABA) which dilates the airways.

The therapeutic effect shows rapidly in Covid-19 treatment developed as an inhaler because it directly acts on the lung rather than absorbed through the digestive tract.

Huons plans to submit an investigational new drug application to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety next month.

Huons expects the time required for clinical trials of Zephirus to be shortened as it already has proved safe and received approval in the nation.

"In a phase 2 study of Covid-19 published by researchers at Oxford University, inhaling budesonide within a week of developing symptoms reduced the risk of emergency care or hospitalization by 90 percent," Huons CEO Um Ki-ahn said. "We have high expectations for developing Zephirus as a Covid-19 therapy as it has an excellent inhibitory effect due to budesonide."