A research paper by a South Korean biotech company Hyundai Bioscience that demonstrated the drug repurposing of Niclosamide, an anthelmintic known to have excellent therapeutic efficacy against novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), was published in the world-renowned SCI (Science and Technology Journal Citation Index)-level international journal and is attracting international attention.

An official at Hyundai Bioscience stated that this is the first time that Niclosamide's bioavailability improvement for drug repurposing has been published in an international journal. In addition to COVID-19, we plan to expand the scope of repurposing so that it can be applied to various intractable diseases such as metastatic cancer and resistant cancer. 

In particular, it was reported that COVID-19 variants, which have recently raised concerns of the international community, can be suppressed by repurposed Niclosamide using CNPharm's drug delivery system. A follow-up study is in progress. CNPharm is the parent company of Hyundai Bioscience.

Niclosamide, which Bayer introduced in 1958, was selected as the No. 1 candidate for the treatment of COVID-19 among 48 major drugs in the world in April, 2020 by Institut Pasteur Korea. It is known as a candidate drug that can treat intractable diseases such as resistant cancer and metastatic cancer, as well as various viral diseases.

Based on CNPharm's original technology, Hyundai Bioscience has dramatically improved the absorption rate and half-life of Niclosamide last year, developing CP-COV03, an oral treatment for COVID-19.  This aims to become the world's first oral drug for the treatment of the virus which is currently in preparations for clinical trials.