The current antiviral market is about 30 trillion KRW (23 billion USD). A significant portion of viral diseases are intractable diseases, and the growth potential of the antiviral market in the future is very high. Various synthetic drugs and human-derived interferon are currently used as antiviral drugs, but they have many limitations in clinical practice. Synthetic drugs have a problem of increasing tolerability when used continuously, and interferon is used for various types of viruses, but its effectiveness is quite limited, and several side effects have been reported. Most of us experienced the disease progresses due to excessive inflammation such as a cytokine storm in the COVID-19 pandemic, ImmuneMed expects to be able to pioneer a new antiviral drug market with the commercialization of burfiralimab, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory therapeutics which will overcome the shortcomings of existing antiviral drugs.

Burfiralimab is a humanized monoclonal antibody found in virus-infected animals and has shown excellent effects in various viral and inflammatory diseases in animal models. Burfiralimab is activated by binding to target proteins that appear on the cell surface specifically for cell damage such as viral infection. In several GLP non-clinical toxicity studies, there were no serious adverse events caused by burfiralimab administration. In phase 1 clinical trials involving healthy subjects in Korea and Australia, there were no serious adverse events caused by drug administration, and safety and tolerability were confirmed. Phase 2 clinical trial was conducted on moderate and severe COVID-19 patients in overseas, identifying its potential as a treatment for severe cases. In addition, starting with the phase 2 clinical trial for chronic hepatitis B, we will conduct phase 2 clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis and continue to expand the indications.