South Korea's Daewoong Pharma receives India's approval to test drug for COVID-19
South Korean pharmaceutical company Daewoong pharmaceutical said they have received assent from the Indian regulatory body to test its anti-parasitic drug.
- World News
- 2 min read
On August 11, South Korean pharmaceutical company Daewoong said they have received assent from Indian regulatory body to test its anti-parasitic niclosamide drug to treat coronavirus infected patients in an early-stage human trial. According to media reports the phase 1 trial, approved by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), will involve around 30 healthy individuals to test safety. Daewoong pharmaceutical has partnered with New Delhi based Mankind Pharma, which will continue the second and third phases of trials in India on mild and severe coronavirus patients.
The results from these trials in India will be used for export permits in Europe and the United States of America. Nathan Kim, vice-president at Daewoong’s communications office said the company is also waiting for a separate phase 1 trial approval from South Korean authorities. The company also claims that its anti-viral drug had completely vanished novel coronavirus from the lungs of animals during pre-clinical trials.
Cases reach 20 million mark
Advertisement
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide topped 20 million on August 11, more than half of them from the US, India, and Brazil. Health officials believe the actual number is much higher than that tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, given testing limitations and the fact that as many as 40% of those who are infected have no symptoms. It took six months or so to get to 10 million cases after the virus first appeared in central China late last year.
It took just over six weeks for that number to double. An AP analysis of data through August 9 showed the US, India, and Brazil together accounted for nearly two-thirds of all reported infections since the world hit 15 million coronavirus cases on July 22. The number of new daily cases has continued to rise in India, hitting a rolling seven-day average of 58,768. In the US, which has more than 5 million cases, the average has decreased since July 22 but remains high at 53,813 new cases a day.
Advertisement
(Image Source: Unsplash/Representative)