■ Dong-A ST and its U.S. subsidiary Metabia announced on the 23rd that they presented a poster on the results of a non-clinical study of the combination therapy of DA-1241 and the FGF21 analogue Efruxifermin, which is being developed as a treatment for metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASH), at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) held in Chicago, U.S., on the 22nd. According to the company, in the study comparing the combination therapy of DA-1241 and Efruxifermin for 12 weeks in a mouse model of MASH against the control group, 94% of the individuals in the combination therapy group showed an improvement of 2 points or more in the activity score for fatty liver disease compared to before treatment. While Efruxifermin reduced body weight by 17%, DA-1241 showed no significant effect on body weight, and the combination therapy group improved plasma levels and liver lipid levels without additional weight loss.
■ AptaBio announced on the 23rd that its clinical trial application (IND) for the immune anticancer candidate substance 'APX-343A' has been approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. APX-343A is a candidate substance that targets cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), which play a key role in the reduction of efficacy and occurrence of resistance in immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Previously, AptaBio signed a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement (CTCSA) with MSD for this candidate substance.
■ D&D Pharmatech announced on the 23rd that its metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASH) treatment 'DD01', currently under clinical development in the U.S., has been selected as the subject of the '2025 1st National New Drug Development Project' led by the National New Drug Development Project Group. Accordingly, the company will receive research and development funding from the project group. The project period is 24 months with approximately 4.5 billion won in government support. Lee Seul-ki, CEO of D&D Pharmatech, noted, "We will quickly promote the technology transfer agreement for DD01."
■ Dong-A Socio Holdings published the integrated report 'GAMASOT 2024' last year, which contains information on its corporate social responsibility activities and achievements. This report includes details on the governance, strategies, risk management indicators, and goals set for the entire group according to the five key categories of corporate social responsibility. The company stated that it has newly included industry standards for non-alcoholic beverages along with biotechnology and pharmaceuticals and has strengthened the sustainability and transparency of its beverage-related businesses.