Daewoong Pharma, Neurolive to jointly develop new antidepressant drug

South Korea's drug company Daewoong Pharmaceutical said on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with biopharmaceutical venture Neurorive to jointly research and develop new drug candidates for the treatment of depression.

Neurorive is a company that focuses on central nervous system diseases such as depression and Alzheimer's, and has oral antidepressant NR-0601.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will cooperate in all stages of the clinical development of NR-0601. Daewoong Pharmaceutical will be in charge of formulation improvement research, process development and quality control, and clinical consultation, while Neurorive will take charge of non-clinical development and testing, talks with regulatory authorities, and clinical development.

According to Daewoong Pharmaceutical, NR-0601 is a substance derived based on Neurorive's drug screening platform and has a faster and stronger efficacy than existing oral antidepressants.

It is reported that it can also work on treatment-resistant depression that does not respond to existing treatments. Clinical trials of NR-0601 will begin early next year.

Write to Jeong Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com