Celltrion Inc.’s headquarters in Songdo, Incheon (image: Celltrion)
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Monday that its inhaled version of an antibody treatment candidate against COVID-19 has shown to be safe in a clinical trial.
A total of 24 healthy volunteers were enrolled in a phase one clinical trial conducted by Celltrion’s global partner, Inhalon Biopharma, in Australia.
Celltrion said the trial proved the inhaled antibody treatment’s safety as there were no severe adverse reactions or discontinuation of medication due to severe adverse reactions.
Celltrion said it plans to accelerate the development of a cocktail therapy with its inhaled candidate with CT-P63, a candidate antibody for treating COVID-19.
CT-P63 is a monoclonal antibody targeting the spike receptor binding domain as a treatment for COVID-19 infection. It has shown a neutralizing ability against earlier variants — alpha, beta, gamma and delta.
It is different from Rekirona, a monoclonal antibody with activity against COVID-19. A monoclonal antibody is a type of protein that has been designed to attach to a specific structure.
Celltrion also said it has completed the submission of phase three clinical trial plans for the inhaled cocktail antibody therapy in three countries — Bosnia, Serbia and North Macedonia.
In February 2021, Rekirona won the South Korean drug safety agency’s conditional approval, becoming the first locally made treatment for COVID-19.
The drug won overseas approval for emergency application by the European Medicines Agency. It has also been granted emergency use authorizations in several countries.
(Yonhap)
