Kainos Medicine’s New HIV Drug Kicks Off Phase III Trial in China

As a drug developing company, Korea-based Kainos Medicine focuses on discovering safe and effective molecules for treating brain diseases, infectious diseases, and cancers. Positioning itself as a new drug developing platform, Kainos Med in surveying new drug candidates and evaluates the possibility of the molecule until early-stage clinical trial. The potential candidate drugs are then transferred to domestic or foreign pharma groups for pursuing regulatory approval and initiate commercial production.

Kainos’ latest achievement is that its anti-HIV molecule, KM023, which was transferred to Jiangsu Aidea Pharmaceuticals and was designated a fast-track review by the CFDA in 2016, has entered phase III clinical trial. KM023 is a Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), which performs antiretroviral activity by blocking the reverse transcriptase enzyme. Sharing the same mechanism with HIV medication Sustiva (efavirenz) from Bristol-Myers Squibb, KM023 was designed as a better alternative with fewer side effects.

In the phase I trial, KM023 has been proved to be safe and as effective as existing treatment with only a quarter of the dosage, which made it possible for the drug to be compacted with other molecules into one pill. As the demand for new drugs is soaring, the Chinese government has put emphasis on drug development and commercialization to provide faster and cheaper medication for all. As a result, KM023 is included in its pharmaceutical innovation project. Aidea Pharmaceuticals is now conducting the phase III trial of KM023 in China with the support of the local government, and the results should be presented before July this year. So far, the tests are going smoothly, a company official claimed.

Kainos Med has made a $170 million profit by transferring its technology to Aidea Pharmaceuticals and will receive a 2% royalty income for every deal of the KM023 agent. As Aidea pharmaceuticals expect KM023 to take up 30% of the Chinese anti-HIV drug market upon release, the royalty income and global sales rights of Kainos Med could create a huge wealth in the near future.

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References

1. http://kainosmedicine.com/
2. http://www.aidea.com.cn/ptindex.html

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