Celltrion Inc., a leading pharmaceutical firm in South Korea, said Friday that its coronavirus antibody treatment substance has shown treatment efficacy in clinical trials.
CT-P59 has been administered to 32 healthy volunteers who have not contracted COVID-19 since July after receiving approval for phase one trials from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
It marked the first time that a locally made genetic recombination antibody treatment material was given the green light to be used on people.
The pharmaceutical company said it will conduct second and third phase clinical trials afterward.
The ministry, which is pushing hard to have a locally made treatment drug, earlier said if all goes well, Celltrion could start mass producing the drug in the first half of 2021. The initial output could be for 5 million people.
Besides local testing, Celltrion also received approvals in seven countries, including Britain, to conduct clinical trials for its material.
SOURCE: The KoreaTimes