Celltrion to expand Phase 1 trial of Covid-19 treatment

Pharmaceutical firm Celltrion said Wednesday it will conduct an additional Phase 1 clinical trial of its coronavirus treatment on patients.

Celltrion's CT-P59 will be administered to nine Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the antiviral antibody treatment, company officials said.

Celltrion has already begun a Phase 1 clinical trial for its CT-P59 by enrolling 32 healthy volunteers who have not contracted Covid-19.

CT-P59 is the country's first locally made genetic recombination antibody treatment material that has been given the green light to be used on people.

Celltrion earlier said that its antiviral antibody treatment showed a hundredfold reduction in the viral load of SARS-CoV-2, the virus known to be causing Covid-19, in animal testing.

The company also said it plans to begin the production of its antiviral antibody treatment at its plant in Songdo in Incheon when the drug demonstrates therapeutic efficacy and safety in the second phase clinical trial.

Yonhap