Identification of new drug candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, efficacy and safety of Daewoong Pharmaceutical < Biopharmaceutical < Pharmaceuticals < Main article

[메디칼업저버 손형민 기자] Daewoong Pharmaceutical (CEO Jeon Seung-ho and Lee Chang-jae) is an international SCIE (Science Citation Index Expanded) thesis titled ‘Molecular Biology of the European Society of Molecular Biology’ for research on molecular mechanisms that can simultaneously explain the efficacy and safety of versiphorosin, which is being developed as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. On the 26th, it was announced that it was listed in ‘medicine’.

This study was conducted jointly by Professor Kwang-Yeon Hwang of Korea University and Professor Seong-Hoon Kim of Yonsei University, and the thesis title is ‘Control of fibrosis via asymmetric inhibition of prolyl-tRNA synthetase 1’.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is an incurable disease in which collagen is abnormally accumulated in the lungs and lung function is lost.

It is a fatal disease with a poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of only 40% after diagnosis, but existing approved treatments have severe side effects, so new treatments are needed.

Versiphorosin, which is being developed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical, shows therapeutic effects by inhibiting the activity of the PARS1 enzyme that promotes collagen synthesis.

In the meantime, researchers from around the world have tried to treat pulmonary fibrosis by regulating the activity of PRS, but since the PARS1 enzyme is essential for life maintenance, excessive inhibition of activity can lead to side effects, making it difficult to develop new drugs.

Therefore, inhibiting the PARS1 enzyme activity to a level that is safe for patients while maintaining the therapeutic effect has been a key task for new drug development.

Through this study, it was found that versiphorosin binds asymmetrically to a pair of PARS1 enzymes, thereby minimizing side effects of the drug while exhibiting efficacy without causing excessive activity inhibition.

PARS1 exists in the form of a pair of two enzymes, and PARS1 enzyme activity promotes collagen synthesis and is involved in the fibrosis process.

When versiphorosin is administered, it forms a strong bond with one of the paired PARS1 enzymes, inhibits its activity, and alleviates fibrosis.

At that moment, as the protein structure changes, the remaining PARS1 enzyme that makes up the pair is hindered from binding to versiphorosin, maintaining its activity and maintaining functions essential for survival.

As a result, while fibrosis is alleviated, essential functions for life are maintained, which explains the efficacy and safety at the same time.

Professor Seong-Hoon Kim, the corresponding author of this study, said, “In order to realize precision medicine and secure the ability to develop new drugs at a global level, it is imperative to discover new drug targets with new mechanisms. Essential enzymes such as PARS1 are also targets for new drug development. It is also a great significance of this study to prove that it can be used as a

Park Joon-seok, head of Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s New Drug Discovery Center, said, “We have secured important research results that can explain the efficacy and safety of versiphorosin, which is being developed as the world’s first innovative new drug, through this study.” We hope that this will give new treatment options to patients suffering from rare diseases.”

Versiphorosin, an idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment being developed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical, was designated as an orphan drug by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year, and was designated as a fast-track item by the FDA for the first time in Korea.

In addition, it has been selected as a national new drug development project support project by the National New Drug Development Agency and is receiving research funds for clinical trials. This is the result of the highly evaluated possibility of Versiphorosin, a pulmonary fibrosis treatment, as an innovative new drug.

Meanwhile, Daewoong Pharmaceutical signed a contract to export versiphorosin technology to Greater China with CS Pharmaceuticals in the UK in January (contract size of about 413 billion won), laying the groundwork for entering the global market early on.

According to Research And Markets, a global market research institute, the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment market is growing at a high rate of 7% annually and is expected to reach $6.1 billion by 2030.