S.Korea's Daewoong Pharmaceutical to export tech to British company

South Korea's Daewoong Pharmaceutical has licensed a new drug candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to CS Pharmaceuticals (CSP) of the UK.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical on Tuesday said it transferred to CSP the rights to develop and market Bersiporocin, which is being developed as a treatment for IPF, in the Greater China region comprising China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

CSP is a British pharmaceutical company that develops new drugs mainly for the Chinese market. With the development and marketing rights for Bersiporocin, it will conduct Phase 3 clinical trials in China and other countries and the drug candidate's commercialization process.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical received a down payment of 7.4 billion won ($5.9 million) for this technology export. If Bersiporocin is used for other respiratory indications in addition to IPF treatment, the company can earn up to 413 billion won, not counting royalties after commercialization.
 
IPF is a disease in which the lungs harden due to excessive production of fibrous tissue, with a five-year survival rate after diagnosis estimated at under 40%. Bersiporocin treats IPF by suppressing excessive production of collagen, or inhibition of Prolyl-tRNA Synthetaste (PRS), as PRS causes fibrosis.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical is working to gain approval for Phase 2 clinical trials in the US and South Korea.

"We will become a game changer on the global market for IPF treatment," said Daewoong Pharmaceutical CEO Jeon Seng-ho.

Write to Jae-Young Han at jyhan@hankyung.com