Vaxdigm Begins Developing Treatment for Unknown Infectious Diseases Beyond COVID-19

Vaxdigm, a company specializing in advanced biomaterials and vaccine development, said it will join forces with the College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, and Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine to develop a next-generation antiviral treatment that can respond to COVID-19 and future novel or variant infectious diseases.
On the 26th, Vaxdigm said it had been selected for a research and development project titled "Development of Antiviral Therapeutics to Prepare for RNA Virus Infectious Diseases (Disease X)," led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.
The project is titled "Development of a Therapeutic for SARS-CoV-2 Infection Targeting Double-Membrane Vesicles, a Core Platform for RNA Virus Replication." Its goal is to secure a treatment platform that can address not only SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, but also new RNA virus infectious diseases that may emerge in the future.
The joint research will be led by a team headed by Professors Seo Sang-wook and Gu-Choul Shin at the College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea. The team led by Professor Kim Kyun-hwan at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Vaxdigm will participate as co-research institutions.
The researchers plan to identify candidate therapeutics by targeting the double-membrane vesicle (DMV), which plays a key role in the replication of RNA viruses. By directly attacking the structure viruses use to replicate inside host cells, they aim to build an antiviral strategy that differs from existing treatments.
The study will first run for two years. With 925 million won in government funding, the team will identify lead candidates and evaluate their efficacy in the preclinical stage. If it passes the first-stage review and moves on to follow-up research, it will receive an additional 1.975 billion won over two more years, bringing the total R&D budget to as much as 2.9 billion won over four years.
Vaxdigm is a biotech startup developing vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases based on biomaterials technology rooted in molecular biology. It has also recently expanded into functional cosmetics and medical devices.
SungJae Kim, CEO of Vaxdigm, said, "Going through the COVID-19 pandemic confirmed that preparing for future unknown infectious diseases requires not only vaccines, but also therapeutic technologies that can respond flexibly to viral mutations." He added, "Through joint research with university researchers, we will verify the potential for developing next-generation antiviral treatments and contribute to strengthening our response capabilities against infectious diseases."
Kim has previously conducted molecular biology research in South Korea and abroad, and later gained experience in clinical trials, medicine, clinical development, investment review, marketing, and sales at global pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

[email protected] Reporter Jeong Sang-hee Reporter