DanDi Bioscience

http://www.paxetv.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=135413 

This post has been translated from the original article dated 1/7/2022. 

“The year 2022 will be another challenging year as the businesses invested in by Next Science will begin to bear fruit in earnest.”

After being incorporated into the HLB Group in 2018, Kim Jong-won, CEO of Next Science, who has been engaged in various business areas from health functional foods to COVID-19 vaccines, has a different resolution this year. This is because the performance expected to come to fruition in 2022 is “out of the ordinary.”

First of all, it is known that the emergency use approval for the COVID-19 vaccine 'Nanocobox' of Vietnam's Nanogen, in which the company holds a 10% stake, will be granted soon. If sales of Nanoco Box start in earnest, great benefits are expected. It is also positive that the septicemia drug, which is being developed by subsidiary Dandi Bioscience, is about to enter phase 1 clinical trials in France. The company is promoting technology transfer with global pharmaceutical companies before and after the second phase, and through this, the company's corporate value is expected to further increase.

In addition, the popularity of Freshico's 'Kombucha', the company's representative health drink, is not dying. The company plans to focus its energy on exploring overseas markets so that it can become a global brand beyond being ranked first in Korea.

In 2022, this year as well, CEO Kim reaffirmed another challenge, saying, "We will always strive to develop new products so that everyone can see, eat, and drink healthily and maintain health in everyday life."

◆ Q&A with CEO Kim Jong-won◆

Q_Has subsidiaries and affiliates in various fields, what kind of achievements have you made in each business sector?

▲ ‘DD-S052’, a new drug substance for sepsis being developed by Dandi Bioscience, a subsidiary, completed preclinical trials in March and is preparing to enter phase 1 clinical trials in France around June. Sepsis is a systemic response to microbial infection that causes major organ failure. It is a fatal disease that can lead to death from septic shock if not properly treated, and there is no innovative treatment yet. DD-S052 has a dual mechanism of action that directly kills the causative bacteria and removes endotoxins at the same time, and we plan to transfer the technology to multinational pharmaceutical companies before and after the phase 2 clinical trial.

In addition, ‘I’m Alive Kombucha’ (subsidiary company Fresico), an antioxidant health drink, the No. 1 selling kombucha brand in Korea, entered the Malaysian market beyond Korea. It has already received halal certification and is expected to gain great popularity in the hot and humid Southeast Asian market.

The cosmetics brand ‘Elishacoy’ is also showing results with a surge in sales. 'Youth Water Face and Eye Cream', which has excellent moisturizing power and anti-wrinkle effect, won first place in the eye cream category at the '2021 Allure Best of Beauty Awards', and 'Kombucha Gyeol Biome Mist', which became famous for being used by global idols, At the request of Japanese customers, it entered 169 offline stores in Japan. Recently, we also launched the vegan health food 'H Burrito'. 

Q_What is the progress of the COVID-19 vaccine of 'Nanogen', a Vietnamese affiliate, and the company's benefits?

▲ The recombinant protein vaccine 'Nanocovac' being developed by NanoGen has already completed clinical trials on about 14,000 people (Phase II 560 / Phase III 3a 1000, 3b 12,000) and received emergency use approval from the Ministry of Health of Vietnam. We are in the process of receiving it. In phase 3a clinical trials, Nanocovac showed a high antibody production rate of 96.5% based on 14 days of administration, proving its high efficacy, and it is known that there are no serious side effects so far.

The Vietnam Medical Ethics Committee, the review body, announced on December 29 last year that Nanocobox had sufficient protective effect against the coronavirus and reported it to the Ministry of Health. Currently, the advisory committee under the Ministry of Health, which is the permitting authority, is reviewing the final data, and reports are continuing in the local media that emergency approval will be given soon.

If Nanocobox is approved by the Ministry of Health, it is expected that Next Science's return on investment will also be re-evaluated. HLB, an affiliate that has agreed to transfer the global rights of Nanoco Box, plans to promote global sales such as approval for use by WHO (World Health Organization) in the future. 

Q_Health drink 'Kombucha' popularity is on the rise, what is the secret and competitiveness?

▲ When we acquired Fresico and started the kombucha business in 2019, kombucha was still unfamiliar to domestic consumers. It has grown in size. In particular, I'm Alive Kombucha is the only one in Korea that takes 506 hours to produce a bottle. Customer satisfaction is very high. We will strive to develop overseas markets so that we can become a global brand beyond No. 1 in Korea.

Q_What are the company's goals and key projects in 2022?

▲ The year 2022 will be another challenging year as the projects invested in by Next Science will begin to bear fruit in earnest.

With the completion of production facilities preemptively invested by Subsidiary Fresico in response to the growing demand for kombucha, consignment production in addition to its own brand products is steadily increasing, increasing profitability. This year, based on the largest production plant in Asia, we will leap forward to become the No. 1 Kombucha brand in the world as well as the No. 1 sales in Korea. In addition, we plan to expand our inner beauty business, including Kombucha Jelly, Vita Gel, Kombucha Powder, and H Burrito, a new product using alternative meat.

Separately, we will use our 2.59 million pyeong of land and register as a forest carbon offset business to meet the government's declaration of carbon neutrality and actively strive to practice ESG management.

In the bio business, we support the process for WHO approval of the COVID-19 vaccine 'Nanocovac', which is being developed by Vietnam's Nanogen, and as soon as Dandi Bioscience's sepsis drug substance completes preclinical trials in March, starting with France around June We plan to support the initiation of phase 1 clinical trials in Europe. Dandi Bioscience plans to be listed on the KOSDAQ in 2023.

Q_'Next Science, a company that continuously tries to change' What is the company's goal through change?

▲ Next Science is a company that always thinks and takes care of people so that they can maintain their health in everyday life. People naturally have various needs depending on their daily environment. Our company always thinks to satisfy the daily needs of modern people who want to see, eat, and drink healthily, and develop new products based on this. I am confident that these changes will eventually increase the company's value, meet shareholders' expectations, and lay the foundation for sustainable growth.