GemVax & KAEL said Thursday it obtained first place in a competition for securing valuable patents and executing good intellectual property strategies and management, held by Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).

“I am very pleased to receive this meaningful award as a company that develops new drugs,” CEO Song Hyoung-gon said. “We are committed to continual research and development of GV1001 as a treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia and Alzheimer’s disease.”

GemVax & KAEL CEO Song Hyoung-gon (second from left) poses for a picture after winning the first prize at the 9th intellectual property business competition organized by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Wednesday.

GemVax & KAEL was recognized from 57 small- and medium-sized intellectual property companies based on its IP-based management success, it said. Awards were handed out to 13 other firms but it was the only company that developed a new drug, according to the company.

The firm based in Seongnam, south of Seoul, holds around 750 patents in 30 countries for anticancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and Alzheimer’s treatments, it said.

In particular, the company has a robust IP portfolio regarding its telomerase-derived peptide drug, V1001 – developed to treat pancreatic cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and prostate hyperplasia. V1001, also known as Riavax, obtained conditional marketing authorization as a pancreatic cancer therapy in Korea.

CEO Song said that GemVax & KAEL recently proved its efficacy in phase 2 clinical trials to treat prostate hyperplasia and is preparing to launch phase 3 clinical trials in Korea. The company aims to launch the drug in the market by 2020, he added.

“We will do our best to secure patents to enhance competitiveness in domestic and overseas markets with not only GV1001 but novel candidate substances, including new peptide drugs,” Song said. “We will work to become an international peptide-based drug development company.”

The company was selected as a Global IP-Star Enterprise last year as a promising small- and medium-sized enterprise with high growth potential and has since received comprehensive government support to strengthen its IP rights both in Korea and abroad, it said.

Copyright © KBR Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution prohibited