Hyundai Bioscience's CP-COV03 selected for presentation at ASM Microbe 2023

Hyundai Bioscience headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Bioscience

By Kim Jae-heun

Hyundai Bioscience's broad-spectrum antiviral Xafty (CP-COV03) and its phase 2 clinical study results will be presented at the “Emerging Science” session of the 2023 Microbial Annual Conference of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the world's largest infections and microbiology conference, in Houston, Texas, from June 15 to 19 (local time), the company said Thursday.

Woo Heung-jung, chief of the department of infectious diseases at Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital and Hallym University College of Medicine, participated in the conference as a presenter and shared the results of the phase 2 study on Xafty followed by a Q&A session. Woo is also a former deputy chairman of the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases.

“We are honored to present Xafty's outstanding achievement at the ASM Microbe 2023,” Woo said. “Xafty has been recognized by the global scientific community as an innovative solution to the COVID-19 pandemic and future viral challenges.”

Unlike existing antivirals, Xafty has an innovative mechanism of action that does not target the virus directly, but rather the host cells. It reactivates the cell's autophagy function, allowing it to eliminate the virus. It is highly effective against the coronavirus family, including COVID-19, MERS and SARS, and is considered the only candidate to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three hundred patients were recruited for this phase 2 clinical trial of Xafty, which is enough in Korea even for a phase 3 clinical trial for Emergency Use Authorization. The results showed a statistically significant four-day faster improvement of symptoms than the placebo group and a six-day faster improvement than the placebo group with high-risk patients. It also demonstrated a 14-fold higher viral load reduction rate compared to the placebo group after only 16 hours of the first dose, indicating its significantly fast antiviral efficacy.

“ASM's selection of Xafty for presentation suggests that Xafty is recognized as a research subject to revolutionize the way antiviral drugs are developed,” said Jin Geun-woo, head of Hyundai Bioscience's Research Center. “We believe that ASM recognized the potential of Xafty to replace or complement existing coronavirus treatments, as well as to be expanded to treat a variety of viral diseases through clinical results.”