Daewoong Pharmaceutical said that the Indonesian health regulators have approved phase 1 clinical trial of its DWP710, a Covid-19 treatment using mesenchymal stem cells.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical has received the go-ahead for phase 1 clinical trial of its Covid-19 treatment, DWP710, in Indonesia. (Daewoong)

To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of DWP710, the company had tested an animal model with acute respiratory distress syndrome using the inflammatory inducer lipopolysaccharide. The company confirmed that the survival rate increased by 30 percent or more compared to the control group and that damaged lung tissue from inflammatory reaction recovered to a level similar to the healthy group.

In a different animal trial for Covid-19, the firm confirmed the antiviral effect of the treatment. It saw the number of viruses in infected lung tissues reduced to below the detection limit.

With the approval, Daewoong plans to conduct the clinical trial in Indonesia, along with its local joint venture Daewoong Infion.

Based on the results of the Indonesian phase 1 clinical trial, the company plans to conduct further phase 2 clinical trial of the drug in Korea.

According to Korea’s revised bio law, the health authorities can give conditional approval for drugs that have passed phase 2 clinical trials to expedite their use at hospitals fighting COVID-19. If the company manages to prove the efficacy of DWP710 in its phase 2 trials, it will be able to speed up the treatment's launch.

“Daewoong is developing best products in terms of the quality and price in cell therapy,” Daewoong Pharmaceutical CEO Jeon Seng-ho said. “From phase 2 clinical trials on, the company plans to accelerate the development of the treatment so that they can be commercialized as quickly as possible.”

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