Celltrion announced on July 17 that it will begin human clinical trials of COVID-19 antiviral antibody treatments, which are being developed as a national project with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after receiving approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
The first phase of clinical trials will be conducted on 32 healthy volunteers at Chungnam National University Hospital. Celltrion plans to complete the tests within the third quarter.
Global clinical trials will carry out phase I clinical trials involving local patients, and Celltrion is currently undergoing final consultation with Britain and other European countries.
The company also plans to secure results for clinical trials by the end of this year by proceeding with the second and third phases of global clinical trials.
Celltrion conducted its first animal test last month. In the first animal test, the level of inflammation in the lungs of the experimental animal significantly improved and the viral potency decreased by one-hundredth. Since then, the virus has also decreased to less than one-tenth of 190 times in hamster tests.
The company has been producing antibody treatment materials needed for human clinical trials while conducting animal experiments to speed up human clinical trials. Currently, it has already completed the production of all materials for human clinical trials.
Celltrion, meanwhile, plans to start mass producing the COVID-19 antibody treatments in the first half of 2021. The company said initial output could be for 5 million people.
