[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] The 37th new drug, 'Jaccubo', started by Jeil Pharmaceutical and completed by Onconic Therapeutics, was honored with the Grand Prize at the Korea New Drug Development Award.

Onconic Therapeutics (CEO John Kim) announced on the 26th that it will receive the grand prize in the new drug development category at the 26th Korea New Drug Development Awards hosted by the Korea Drug Development Association for its development achievements with 'Jaqbo'. The awards ceremony will be held on the 28th at the Samjeong Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

The Korea New Drug Development Award is Korea's first new drug development award, established in 1999 with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to promote the development of the domestic pharmaceutical and biohealth industries and to encourage research and development of new drugs.

Jaqbo (active ingredient: zastaprazan) is a gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment drug (P-CAB: potassium-competitive acid secretion inhibitor) that was approved as a new drug by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in April of last year through research of the initial candidate substance by Jeil Pharmaceutical and subsequent development by Onconic Therapeutics.

Onconic Therapeutics is a new drug development subsidiary established by Jeil Pharmaceutical in 2020 for new drug research and development. Since the establishment of Onconic Therapeutics, Jeil Pharmaceutical has steadily invested in research and development and has worked hard to secure new drugs. The new drug research and development efforts of both companies have achieved the success of developing the 37th domestic new drug, Jacquebo, in just four years, creating a positive precedent for new drug development.

Jaqbo was launched domestically in October of last year through Jeil Pharmaceutical, which has a strong sales force in the fire extinguisher market, and is generating stable sales.

Onconic Therapeutics is conducting clinical trials for a dual-inhibition targeted anticancer drug as a pipeline following Jacqbo. 'Nesuparib', currently under development, is a new drug candidate with a dual mechanism that simultaneously inhibits PARP and Tankyrase. It is expected to greatly expand the treatment area of ​​existing synthetic lethal anticancer drugs by confirming its effectiveness in treating resistance issues after first-generation PARP inhibitor treatment and in cancer indications that were previously untreatable.

Nesuparib has been designated as an orphan drug for pancreatic cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is currently undergoing phase 1b/2 clinical trials targeting first-line treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer. In addition, an investigator-led phase 2 clinical trial has been conducted for endometrial cancer in combination with Keytruda since last year. Nesuparib, which is receiving attention as a next-generation anticancer drug, is scheduled to present non-clinical results at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2025, one of the world’s top three cancer academic societies, in April.

An official from Onconic Therapeutics said, “Jaqbo is a valuable result of the long-term investment of human and material resources by Jeil Pharmaceutical and Onconic Therapeutics,” and “The funds secured from the sales of new drugs will establish a virtuous cycle structure that leads to the development of other innovative new drugs by connecting them to follow-up pipelines.”