Anthelmintic Niclosamide Effective in Dealing with COVID-19

Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) announced on April 14 that it will cooperate with Daewoong Group to develop a treatment for COVID-19.

The institute said it has confirmed through cell experiments that anthelmintic niclosamide is effective in dealing with COVID-19 and it is 40 times and 26 times more effective than remdesivir and chloroquine, respectively.

Orally taken niclosamide results in an unmaintained concentration in blood, which means it is still difficult to use niclosamide as a COVID-19 cure. IPK is planning to deal with this in cooperation with Daewoong Therapeutics.

Last year, the subsidiary of Daewoong Group developed a novel formulation, DWRX2003, for maintaining the concentration of niclosamide in blood. Since the development, the company has worked on cures for intractable lung diseases. Early this year, Daewoong Therapeutics confirmed through animal experiments that DWRX2003 improves breathing by hindering mucus secretion and controls cytokine storm by blocking inflammatory cells.

Daewoong Therapeutics is planning to work on a COVD-19 cure by using DWRX2003 with niclosamide. To this end, the group will join the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s testing in primates scheduled for next month and submit a clinical trial plan to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in July.

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