GC Pharma was selected as a preferred bidder for a research project to develop a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) blood plasma treatment, which was propelled by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The KCDC posted a notice on April 16 again to receive applications for the "Development and Clinical Evaluation of COVID-19 Blood Plasma Treatment." It is a public announcement to recruit academic research services for the state R&D project designated as the third urgent issue this year.
In the first and second public notices, only GC Pharma applied, so it failed in the bidding, and only the GC Pharma was selected as the final preferred bidder in the third round of research service recruitment.
If a service contract is made, the total amount of research provided by the KCDC to the company is 300 million won (some $246,000).
In particular, GC Pharma, which had previously been developing blood plasma treatment drugs, predicts that its participation in the national project will speed up the development of the treatment.
The company said it is simultaneously pushing for clinical trials and commercial production preparations for therapeutic confirmation of the COVID-19 blood plasma treatment drug "GC5131A."
Its clinical trials will begin in July at the latest. GC Pharma is also planning to speed up the development of medicines with the aim of commercializing them by the end of this year.
A GC Pharma official said, "We are developing a blood treatment drug with two purposes: urgent treatment of COVID-19 patients and securing a platform for a new type of infectious disease treatment drug that may occur in the future."
He added, "The test production for mass production of the drug has already been successfully completed at the Ochang plant."
Blood plasma treatment drug is a type of immunoglobulin drug that makes plasma containing antibodies that neutralize the virus like a drug. It is different from "plasma therapy" in which plasma of a convalescent patient is injected as if it were transfusion to a serious patient.
