April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] GC Pharma said on June 19 that it has entered an agreement with Yuhan to co-develop rare disease treatments.

The drug makers expect GC Pharma’s experience in developing orphan drugs and Yuhan’s new compound synthesis technology will complement each other to create synergies in discovering new drug candidate. 

GC Pharma president Huh Eun-chul (left) and Yuhan CEO Lee Jung-hee

Their first project aims at developing a treatment for Gaucher’s disease, an inherited disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase, which causes low blood-platelet count, and enlargement of the liver and spleen.

“The scope of cooperation between the two companies will range from drug substance discovery to non-clinical stage, and clinical development. Expansion of indication will be discussed later,” GC Pharma said.

There are only 70 people who suffer from Gaucher’s disease in Korea and 6,500 patients worldwide.

Despite higher development costs and less-certain returns, the two firms said they are hoping the partnership in rare disease therapies could become a future growth engine as the price of orphan drugs are higher than others and the US Food and Drug Administration and other health agencies offer exceptional incentives to encourage development.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)