Crystal Genomics said that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has given the go-ahead for conducting its phase 2 clinical trial of Camostat, a serine hydrolase inhibitor, for treating Covid-19.

The trial aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drug by carrying out the trial on 100 patients with mild and moderate Covid-19 symptoms. After completing enrollment, the company will divide the patients into two groups and administer either Camostat or placebo for a week.

The company has appointed Professor Kim Yang-soo at Asan Medical Center to lead the study.

The phase 2 clinical trial comes after the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Germany published a report confirming that Camostat’s efficacy in inhibiting transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) effectively impedes intracellular infection by blocking the entry Covid-19 virus into the cell.

According to the experimental results, the concentration of 50 percent of cell infection inhibition by Camostat was less than 1 uM, which is considerably lower than that of current Covid-19 treatments, including remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine.

“If this clinical trial confirms the efficacy of Camostat for Covid-19, we will be able to contribute to ending the Covid-19 pandemic by quickly developing it as a therapeutic agent,” a company official said.

Copyright © KBR Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution prohibited