13 for Treatment Development, 2 for Vaccine Development
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on Aug. 11 that 15 clinical trials are underway in South Korea in relation to COVID-19 and those are divided into 13 for treatment development and two for vaccine development. A total of 20 COVID-19 treatment and vaccine clinical trials have been approved domestically so far, including five that have terminated.
Two out of the 15 were approved after July 22. One of the two is an investigator-initiated trial for using Merck’s Rebif and Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir together. The other is Genexine’s phase 1 clinical trial using GX-17, which is being developed as a new anticancer drug.
The 13 drugs are divided into nine antiviral agents and four immunomodulators. The former remove or weaken viruses to block viral infection in the human body. They show therapeutic effects by blocking virus infiltration into cells or intra-cell genetic material multiplication.
The latter are divided into anti-inflammatory agents and immunity enhancers. The former control excessive immune activities attributable to COVID-19 to suppress inflammatory responses and prevent damage to normal cells. The latter induce a proper autoimmune response to stop the progress of a disease or assist in recovery. The clinical trial of Genexine is based on this mechanism.
The two vaccine clinical trials are related to GX-19 and INO-4800, which was developed by American biotechnology company Inovio Pharmaceuticals and allowed to be clinically tested by the International Vaccine Institute.