Anti-cancer Therapy To Be Released, Improving Safety By The Internationally Patented Technology
 
Daewoong Pharmaceutical and bio-venture company Peptron (representative director: Choi Ho Il) plan to release ‘Luphere Depo(principal ingredient: Leuprolide acetate, hereafter Luphere)’ from Feb. 2005.  Luprolide acetate is an anti-cancer therapeutic agent and Luphere® depot contains 3.75 mg of leuprolide acetate in microespheres developed and patented by Daewoong.

Luphere® is a anti-cancer therapeutic agent whose principal ingredient is Leuprolide acetate widely used in treating prostate cancer, breast cancer, uterine myoma and endometriosis. As manufactured by the patented sustained release spray dry technology, Luphere® has no Anaphylactic shock symptom (wheal, dyspnea and edema) that may be caused by gelatin inactive ingredient in the original formulation by TAP pharmaceutical. Also, because no toxic solvent (Methylene Chloride) is used in manufacturing, Luphere® would improves safety.

The ‘sustained release spray dry technology’ of making leuprolide acetate microspheres to gradually release the drug in the body is developed by Daewoong and patented worldwide.

Especially, Luphere is spotlighted in the world market in that it is anti-cancer therapy manufactured by such sustained release spray dry technology. Currently, Daewoong Pharmaceutical is negotiating export agreement with at least 3 pharmaceutical companies in Japan, aiming at obtaining Japanese approval in 2007. In addition, Daewoong Pharmaceutical is seeking partners to bring this drug generic drug markets in the US and Europe.

According to Lee Bong Yong (Director of Biotechnology Research Institute of Daewoong Pharmaceutical),  “We hope Luphere will be a successful model for a partnership between Daewoong and specialty pharmaceutical companies to bring a new technology developed by Daewoong into the world,”