Drug ministry to fast-track AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate
By Kim Han-joo
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's drug safety agency said Tuesday that it is reviewing whether to grant fast-track approval of a vaccine candidate developed by British-Swedish bio giant AstraZeneca Plc.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has formed a team of officials dedicated to evaluating whether to give the green light to the vaccine candidate.
Pharmaceutical companies from both home and abroad have joined the global race to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 virus, with 27 of them having approval for clinical trials.
Of them, a total of 19 clinical trials -- 17 treatment candidates and two vaccine candidates -- are currently being conducted, the ministry said.
Among the front runners of COVID-19 vaccine candidates under development is small biopharmaceutical maker Genexine Inc.
GX-I7 -- co-developed by U.S.-based biopharmaceutical firm NeoImmuneTech Inc. -- is administered in adult COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms.
Also, Celltrion Inc.'s antiviral antibody treatment candidate called CT-P59 is currently undergoing phase two and three trials, both at home and abroad.
The company is currently conducting phase two trials on around 300 people with mild and severe symptoms of the virus, which will allow researchers to better check CT-P59's efficacy against COVID-19 and its overall safety.
Phase three, involving around 720 people, will be carried out to see if the candidate material is actually effective against viral infections, according to the pharmaceutical giant.
khj@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
1 BTS most tweeted about musician in U.S. in 2020
-
2 BTS performs 'BE,' surprise Coldplay cover on 'MTV Unplugged'
-
3 Harvard professor Ramseyer to revise paper on 1923 massacre of Koreans in Japan: Cambridge handbook editor
-
4 Controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's works tell viewers to embrace 'more life' in pandemic
-
5 BTS earns 2nd 'million point' song on Oricon chart with 'Dynamite'
-
1 200 old Japanese maps define Dokdo as Korean territory
-
2 Controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's works tell viewers to embrace 'more life' in pandemic
-
3 BTS most tweeted about musician in U.S. in 2020
-
4 (News Focus) K-pop agencies scale up to build bigger IP, platform empires
-
5 SHINee says vigor, passion drove new album following military enlistment hiatus
-
1 (News Focus) Past school bullying claims spread like wildfire to S. Korean entertainment scene
-
2 (LEAD) S. Korea prepares for vaccine shots as 1st batch of 1.5 mln doses begins to ship
-
3 (LEAD) New virus cases still rising 1 day before mass vaccine rollout
-
4 Agency refuses to confirm report Jennie, G-Dragon are dating
-
5 (2nd LD) K League star Ki Sung-yueng denies sexual assault allegations