Luca AIcell to Develop New Antiviral Drug Targeting Specific Curvature of Virus Surface

Ahn Seung-hee, CEO of Luka AIcell (pictured), said on the 8th, “We have secured the technology to find the virus by looking at the surface of the virus and then destroy it.”

Luka AIcell is developing an antiviral agent with a peptide (protein fragment) that recognizes and attacks only the specific curvature (degree of curvature) of the virus surface composed of lipids. Representative Ahn said, “We do not touch large normal cells, and only viruses with a diameter of 200 nanometers (nm: 1 nm = 1 billionth of a meter) or less are targeted for attack.” AIcell is the only one,” he said.

Antiviral drugs are treatments that kill viruses that have penetrated into the body, unlike vaccines that lower the probability of being infected with a virus or relieve symptoms. Representative examples include Pfizer’s Paxlovid, a COVID-19 treatment, and Roche’s Tamiflu, a flu treatment.

The candidate substance being developed by Luca AIcell is different from existing antiviral drugs. Viruses with a certain curvature attack unconditionally, so they target the Corona 19 virus and the Japanese encephalitis virus at once. Existing antiviral drugs such as Paxrovid and Tamiflu can only catch one virus because they recognize and attack only specific proteins on the surface of the virus.

Luca AIcell is scheduled to go into clinical trials for COVID-19 patients. With support from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) under the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan, the company decided to conduct a clinical trial on patients with Japanese encephalitis.

Reporter Lee Woo-sang idol@hankyung.com