South Korean pharmaceutical company Daewoong Pharmaceutical said on Thursday that its Covid-19 sustained-release niclosamide treatment candidate (DWRX2003) is showing promising trial results in the fight against COVID-19, Influenza A (IVA) and seasonal flu.

In addition to COVID-19 ferret model, the company's niclosamide reduced IVA-related mortality in an efficacy test on animals. While 40% of placebo-treated patients died, both preventive and therapeutic treatment groups injected with DWRX2003 12 hours before or seven days after infection resulted in complete survivability. The clinical scores on the second day of administration were 75% improved compared to the control group, indicating that the treatment was effective for seven days despite the uptake and worsening of the infection.

Recently, the company presented the results at a virtual COVID-19 late-stage therapeutics conference held by the International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases-Antiviral Group (ISIRV-AVG) in front of NIH, EMA, FDA, NIAID, CDC and WHO.

The company has used its proprietary drug delivery technology to develop niclosamide as a long-acting injection, which has overcome several disadvantages of low absorption rate, rapid clearance and gastrointestinal adversity. A single injection can maintain plasma concentration levels high enough to treat viral diseases, reducing patient visits and making the combined therapies easier to administer.