Celltrion's virus treatment approved for trials as preventive treatment

Logo of Celltrion. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Celltrion’s Covid-19 treatment candidate has been approved for trials as a preventive treatment in Korea.

The company’s antibody treatment CT-P59 recently received a nod from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to conduct Phase 3 trials in Korea on confirmed patients with zero symptoms, or people that had come into contact with Covid-19 patients. The study will be conducted on 1,000 participants in Korea.

The main purpose of the clinical trials will be to confirm CT-P59’s preventive effects and its performance in killing the virus in the early stages of infection.

“The advantage of antibody treatments like CT-P59 is that it produces an antibody as soon as it enters the body,” Celltrion said in a statement. “So we’re expecting it to be effective in preventing the infection of medical staff who work closely with patients and elderly patients with weak immunities, to an extent that can’t be covered by vaccines.”

The company confirmed the safety of CT-P59 on healthy volunteers already, and is currently conducting Phase 2 and 3 trials on patients with mild and mid-level symptoms after receiving approval mid-September.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]