GC Wellbeing said Wednesday that it has filed an international patent based on Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for substances containing placenta extract for treating non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

GC Wellbeing said Wednesday it has confirmed that the experimental group treated with its placenta extract of 0.05 to 0.1 percent showed a 60 percent reduction in fat accumulation in the liver.
GC Wellbeing said Wednesday it has confirmed that the experimental group treated with its placenta extract of 0.05 to 0.1 percent showed a 60 percent reduction in fat accumulation in the liver.

In an animal study using zebrafish with high genetic similarity to humans, the company’s researchers confirmed that the experimental group treated with the placenta extract of 0.05 to 0.1 percent showed 60 percent less fat accumulation in the liver than the fatty liver model induced by tamoxifen.

The company also found that the extract significantly lowered the aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, the levels of which indicate liver damage in separate obesity-induced mice models.

GC Wellbeing is conducting phase 2 clinical trials of placenta extract for patients with chronic liver disease, including alcoholic hepatitis and NASH. It is also recruiting patients to begin studies to increase efficacy by diversifying administration routes and expanding doses, with Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center Professor Hwang Jae-seok and Konyang University Hospital Professor Lee Tae-hee.

“GC Wellbeing has been actively researching effective ingredients and mechanisms based on placenta-derived miRNAs (micro ribonucleic acid) and exosomes,” a company official said. “In addition to the recent PCT application, we will enter global markets starting with the U.S., Europe, and China in 2022.”

The number of NASH patients is increasing in Korea due to the recent Westernized diet, but there are no medicines that won approval to treat the disease. According to global data, the NASH treatment market is expected to reach 30 trillion won ($26.8 billion) in 2026.

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