Inventage Lab, a company specializing in gene therapy, said that it signed a joint development and commercialization contract with Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical for a long-lasting persistent dementia injection, IVL3003, on Monday.

The pipeline, which gave Chong Kun Dang exclusive rights, is a dementia injection that lasts for a month utilizing IVL-Drug Fluidic, a DDS injectable platform technology developed by Inventage Lab.

Donepezil, the main ingredient, is a representative dementia treatment ingredient approved by the FDA and EMA, and its validity and safety have been proven and widely prescribed.

Currently, dementia treatments consist of oral formulations and must be taken daily, often resulting in poor medicine compliance for dementia patients. In addition, some patients also complain of side effects, so there has been a steady demand for newer formulations such as long-term continuous injections.

However, the long-term persistent injection developed by Inventage Lab is a formulation which only needs to be administered monthly, and can increase patients compliance with medication, said an Inventage Lab official.

Additionally, it is expected to improve the effectiveness of dementia treatment as it can improve safety and effectiveness based on stable drug release control, a characteristic of IVL-Drug Fluidic. For physicians, it is also expected to reduce the burden of drug administration for dementia patients admitted to nursing hospitals.

Accordingly, this product fills an unmet demand for patients, guardians, and medical staff alike, Inventage Lab said.

"We are delighted to develop our long-term continuous dementia treatment with Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, who has expertise in the domestic dementia treatment market," Inventage Lab CEO Kim Ju-hee said. "We will maintain a close cooperative system to successfully develop this product together and provide innovative treatment options for dementia patients."