Yuyu Pharmaceutical said that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct phase 2 clinical trials for YP-P10, a new dry eye treatment.

YP-P10 is a new biopharmaceutical using synthetic peptides and aims to relieve signs and symptoms of dry eye syndrome caused by inflammation by administering the treatment twice a day.

In preclinical trials, Yuyu confirmed that the candidate has an excellent anti-inflammatory mechanism and corneal epithelial cell healing effect compared to existing drugs.

“As the FDA has approved YP-P10’s phase 2 clinical trial, the company plans to start the study within the first half,” Yuyu Pharmaceutical CEO Robert Yu said.

According to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, the global dry eye syndrome market, worth $3.9 billion in 2018, will reach $5.6 billion by 2026, growing at 6.14 percent per year.

The company stressed that it is also developing other drugs in addition to YP-P10 through aggressive R&D investment this year.

Such drugs include three new drug pipelines for treating multiple sclerosis in cooperation with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the U.S., and new drugs for benign prostatic hyperplasia, hair loss, and stroke recovery.

“The company has designed all of its new drug pipelines currently under development to receive approval and drug prices in Korea and the United States, Europe, Japan, and China,” Yu said. “Even if a multinational pharmaceutical company conducts due diligence, we believe our projects will be attractive new drug programs.”