Daewoong Pharmaceutical, SNU team to develop new flu drug

A panoramic view of Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s Yongin Research Center.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. announced on Wednesday that it will collaborate with a research team led by Professor Lee Yan from Seoul National University’s Department of Chemistry to develop a new flu treatment.

The project, called “Development of a Long-lasting Antiviral Drug Using Guanidino Oseltamivir,” will receive support from the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Infectious Disease Prevention and Treatment Technology Development Program totaling 2 billion won ($1.5 million) in research and developing funding over three years.

The key goal is to address the resistance issues of the antiviral drug component Oseltamivir, known as Tamiflu, and reduce the required number of doses from 10 to just 1. Daewoong Pharmaceutical is focusing on Guanidino Oseltamivir, a compound similar to oseltamivir, to develop a new antiviral drug that can treat mutated viruses. Resistance develops when viruses do not bind well with antiviral drugs, but guanidino demonstrates excellent binding ability with viruses.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Seoul National University research team also plan to use prodrug technology to overcome the limitation of the substance’s very low bioavailability of around 4 percent. Prodrug technology involves modifying the drug’s structure to enhance its absorption and effectiveness, and the frequency of dosing can also be improved by applying a long-acting platform technology.

While standard flu treatment Tamiflu requires 10 doses over five days, this new drug will only require a single dose.