South Korea’s Daewoong Pharma Receives CDSCO Nod to Test Anti-parasite Drug for COVID-19 Treatment

New Delhi: South Korea-based Daewoong Pharmaceutical has received Indian regulatory approval to test its anti-parasitic niclosamide drug to treat COVID-19 patients in an early-stage human trial.

The phase 1 trial, approved by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), will involve around 30 healthy participants to test safety and kickstart this month, the company said.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical is testing the drug in partnership with New Delhi-based Mankind Pharma Ltd, which will continue the second and third phases of trials in India on mild and severe coronavirus patients.

The South Korean company claims had said its anti-viral drug had completely eliminated the novel coronavirus from animals’ lungs during pre-clinical testing.