Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin predicted that the COVID-19 vaccine will be released in the first half of next year. He also said that U.S. President Donald Trump's confirmed COVID-19 virus has disappeared through treatment, and that South Korea also has a U.S.-level COVID-19 treatment infrastructure.
Chairman Seo said at the Korea Investment Festival 2020 held in Seoul on Oct. 6, "The COVID-19 will end only when vaccines or treatments are available, but science cannot be solved politically," adding, "I expect vaccines to come out in the first half of next year in accordance with the guidelines of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."
However, he predicted that the treatment would come out faster than the vaccine. Citing U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently returned from a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, the chairman said, "President Trump received the first antibody treatment, the second Remdesivir prescription, and received injections to prevent the virus from replicating. That would have killed the virus enough."
"Korea also has the same infrastructure that treated President Trump," he said. "By the end of the year, Koreans will be able to access the antibody treatment used to treat President Trump." Regarding the end of COVID-19, he said, "We should think that by the end of next year, we will be under the influence of COVID-19."
Celltrion is conducting the phase 2 of the COVID-19 antibody drug 'CT-P59'. "We plan to apply for conditional approval of the treatment by the end of the year," Chairman Suh said. "If the application is accepted, it will be released on the market at the prime cost level."
"Then we can diagnose the entire nation through the diagnostic kit and block the disease from being developed into critical condition," he said. "It will be the first COVID-19-free country in the world and people will be able to return to their daily lives."
Suh said that he would establish a startup after retiring on Dec. 31. "I will return to the spirit of starting a business 19 years ago and set up a U-healthcare startup company," he said. "I will not take any employees with me now."
U-healthcare is a health care service that utilizes ubiquitous and telemedicine technologies. The biggest feature is that medical services can be provided without restrictions on time and space. Suh also said he would invest 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) to foster talents.
