Hyundai Bioscience, which develops antiviral drugs including treatments for Covid-19, is turning its attention overseas.
Hyundai Bioscience said Friday that its U.S. subsidiary, Hyundai Bioscience USA, has applied to the Pandemic Antiviral Discovery Initiative (PAD) to fund its “research and development of universal antivirals for future pandemics.”
The PAD Initiative is a global philanthropic organization founded in March 2022 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Open Philanthropy Foundation, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation of Denmark to prepare for future pandemics.
The PAD Initiative will receive up to $90 million (about 118.7 billion won) in funding from these organizations. It aims to support the development of antiviral medicines that can be distributed quickly and equitably in the event of another pandemic.
In its application proposal, Hyundai Bioscience noted that the antiviral drugs developed so far cannot respond to mutations and new pandemics, emphasizing that a universal antiviral drug is needed to reduce the number of deaths caused by infections in the event of another pandemic.
Hyundai Bioscience also announced the appointment of Dr. C. Jo White as the study's principal investigator (PI) and Professors Scott G. Filler and Loren G. Miller of the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as co-principal investigators.
According to Hyundai Bioscience, Dr. Jo White is an expert in clinical development and research, trial development, regulatory affairs, and pharmacovigilance with nearly 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Merck (MSD).
On Sept. 9, the professor posted a statement on the company’s website titled, "5 Reasons for Emergency Approval of Xafty." Xafty (CP-COV03) is a Covid-19 treatment candidate developed by Hyundai Bioscience. The company said it had also submitted the same opinion to the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
In its statement, the company said that clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of Xafty in improving Covid-19 symptoms and that administering Xafty without concomitant contraindications can reduce the number of deaths in high-risk groups. It also emphasized that pharmaceutical sovereignty can be realized if Xafty is approved for emergency use.
"We spent a lot of money developing Covid-19 drugs without government support. So, we decided to apply for research support from the PAD initiative under the judgment that overseas development should be procured through funding,” a Hyundai Bioscience official told Korea Biomedical Review over the phone. “If selected, we can receive preclinical and clinical costs support."
The official went on to say, "Abroad, we were shackled of sorts, as they preferred to use drugs approved in developers’ countries. When we released clinical data overseas, the response was more enthusiastic than in Korea. We did everything we could in Korea. Our latest submission was made in the same vein. We expect to receive research support from the PAD initiative."
On Friday, Hyundai Bio's share price rose to 40,000 won, up 23.27 percent from the previous day's closing price of 32,450 won before closing at 33,350 won.