South Korea’s leading drug maker Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp. (CKD) is set to embark on a clinical trial of its autoimmune disease treatment CKD-506 as it received approval from the Netherlands’ Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO in Dutch) for a phase 1 clinical trial, the company announced on Tuesday.
The investigational drug is known to reduce inflammation by inhibiting histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) that affects various inflammatory diseases and enhances T-cell activation to boost the immune system.
The drug showed significant therapeutic efficacy in treating rheumatoid arthritis in a preclinical study. Oral treatment of it showed improvement in inflammatory index scores measured by joint edema and bone damage. The company will evaluate the safety profile of the drug during the phase 1 trial in Europe based on the preclinical data, and begin a phase 2 trial in 2017.
“As the world’s population is aging rapidly, the market for rheumatoid arthritis treatment is expected to grow to $19 billion by 2022,” said an official from the company. “CKD-506 has a great potential to become an alternative to existing biologics,” he added.
By Shin Chan-ok
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