KDCA finds bidder to develop inhaled Covid-19 drug

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said it found a sole bidder to carry out the national research project to develop an inhaled Covid-19 treatment after opening the bid late last year.

Industry watchers pay attention to whether this research will lead to a second homegrown Covid-19 treatment, following Celltrion’s Covid-19 drug Regkirona.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has selected a sole bidder to carry out a state project to develop an inhaled Covid-19 treatment.

According to the Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH) under the KDCA on Monday, the agency granted the bidder to conduct the program to develop a platform for making inhaled antibody treatment formulations for novel viruses, including Covid-19.

The commissioned research is a basic study to build an antibody platform to develop an inhaled Covid-19 treatment. The research will be carried out for one year on a budget of 135 million won ($112,711). The study was open to those who have registered the bidding qualification for academic and research services in the Korea On-Line E-Procurement System.

The KNIH announced the project through open bidding on Dec. 26, but there was no bidder. So the agency made the second announcement on Jan. 30 and determined the winner of the project.

The Public Procurement Service marked the bidding status as “a failed bid due to a single bidder,” but the KNIH said it would proceed with a private contract with the sole bidder without further notice.

In the announcement for the research project, the KNIH said the nation needed to develop an inhaled Covid-19 treatment because most Covid-19 antibody drugs, injected intravenously, cannot be well delivered to respiratory tissues where major Covid-19 symptoms appear. Also, patients and physicians find it cumbersome to use injections, and it was necessary to supplement the route of the drug administration, the KNIH said.

However, the agency declined to disclose the name of the winner of the bidding or whether it was a company or a research institution because it has yet to finalize the agreement.

According to anonymous sources, the bid winner was not Celltrion, the only Korean drugmaker that entered a clinical trial of an inhaled Covid-19 treatment. Instead, Celltrion is working on a cocktail inhaled treatment, which combines Regkirona (regdanvimab) with the new antibody CT-P63.

Observers said the budget for the KNIH’s research project was too small. Also, they said Celltrion, which is already in a clinical trial stage, does not have any reason to bid for the early-stage study project.

“This research project aims to develop an antibody platform for an inhaled treatment, not to support a particular product,” an official at the KNIH said.

Industry officials said developing an inhaled Covid-19 antibody treatment using a local technology will be a significant challenge.

“I have never heard any Korean company, other than Celltrion, that tried to develop an inhaled Covid-19 antibody drug,” an industry official said, wanting to remain anonymous. “When Covid-19 pills like Paxlovid are already available, an inhaled Covid-19 treatment should be able to show strong therapeutic effects in mild patients and prove the advantage of at-home treatment.”