Daewoong Pharmaceutical is rapidly securing its position in the market by consecutively acquiring patents related to the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The company announced on Oct. 4 that it has registered three patents related to autoimmune disease treatments over the past six months.
To date, Daewoong Pharmaceutical has registered a total of six patents in connection with the treatment of autoimmune diseases. All of these patents pertain to kinase inhibition. They include:
4-aminopyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidinylazabicyclo derivatives, 3-phenyl-1H-pyrazolopyridine derivatives, thiazolamine derivatives, amino-methylpiperidine derivatives, amino-fluoropiperidine derivatives, and pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidinyl derivatives.
In particular, attention was drawn to HanAll Biopharma, a subsidiary of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, when it released preliminary Phase 1 clinical data of its FcRn antibody new drug IMVT-1402 (HanAll code name HL161ANS) in collaboration with its global partner, Immunovant, on Sept. 26. In this Phase 1 trial, HL161ANS exhibited antibody inhibition efficacy comparable to, if not higher than, Bococizumab. Moreover, no increases in LDL-cholesterol or decreases in albumin levels were observed.
With the encouraging initial results of HL161ANS garnering positive market responses, there’s growing interest in Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s pipeline for autoimmune disease treatments. Currently, the company is simultaneously advancing three different projects related to autoimmune disease treatments, including kinase inhibitors.
The dual-targeting autoimmune disease treatment drug DWP213388 is an oral medication that modulates the activity of immune cells, such as B cells and T cells. Being a “first-in-class” drug, it selectively and simultaneously inhibits the target proteins Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) and interleukin-2-inducible T-cell kinase (ITK). Unlike traditional treatments that inhibit either B cells or T cells, DWP213388 acts on both simultaneously.
DWP213388 received approval for its Phase 1 trial plan (IND) from the U.S. FDA in August of the previous year. Furthermore, in April, it was exported to Vitalibio, a subsidiary of U.S. biotech investor Aditum Bio, in a deal worth US$477 million, with an upfront payment of US$11 million totaling around 639.1 billion won (US$471.9 million).
Additionally, Daewoong Pharmaceutical is developing a new drug for intractable skin autoimmune diseases named DWP212525. This candidate drug has an anti-inflammatory effect and selectively inhibits targets involved in immune cell activation. Alongside this, the company is aiming to release an oral medication for central nervous system autoimmune diseases and plans to unveil the candidate substance in the first half of the following year.
Jeon Seung-ho, a representative of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, stated, “The Daewoong Group aims to dominate the 200 trillion won market by developing treatments for severe and intractable autoimmune diseases.”