As of November 1, researcher Jun-sik Moon moved to PMATCH., a start-up company that develops service and online platforms based on the innovative application of artificial Intelligence.

For the last two years (2019.10~2021.10) Jun-sik has worked hard to apply mathematical principal into the medical field, in particular, to enhance the result for artificial intelligence models from the Small Grant Exploratory Research (SGER) Program to develop a model for assessing clinical trials feasibility. Participating in workshops and projects related with artificial intelligence, he actively helped his fellows when mathematical approach was required.

Jun-sik briefly stated that, through novel programs and varied activities in CCADD, he experienced the significant time when he had an opportunity to broaden his horizons being on good terms with his colleagues. He also did not forget to mention that the treasured memories of CCADD will be in his heart and to thank Prof. Howard Lee and CCADD's members.

CCADD is looking forward to fulfilling his potentiality at PMATCH. beyond the confines of interdisciplinarity and always applauding for his coming carrier.

Prof. Kyeong-Ryoon Lee lectured at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Korean Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, held in Jeju-do, Korea, November 11-13, 2021. The title of his talk was Development of Phyisologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Model for Orally-Administered Fexuprazan in Humans. In the lecture, Prof. Lee introduced the audience step-by-step to the drug development project he led in collaboration with Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea, where a PBPK model developed using pre-clinical animal data accurately predicted the PK profiles of fexuprazan, a potassium-competitive acid blocker, in humans. Prof. Lee's presentation was based on a research paper he recently published, and was well-received.

A column by Prof. Howard Lee, which provided an overview of the issues in drug development in Korea and proposed new strategies to address them, was published at the Op-Ed section of Hankyung, a daily newspaper focusing in economics and finance. In his column, Prof. Lee explained why Korea has not been quite successful in drug development in comparison with its accomplishments in other areas such as semiconductor, automobile, smart phone, and even the content industry these days including K-Pop and K-drama. "There is no drug that has shown commercial viability although >30 new drugs have been developed and approved in Korea since early 2000", Prof. Lee, summarized. "First, and foremost, the business ecosystem has to be revamped", Prof. Lee emphasized, "in order for Korea to show any global leadership in drug development." 

Prof. Lee's column was based on a recent report written by Yoona Choi (lead author), Jung-Hyun Won, YeSol Hong, and himself, which will be published as a stand-alone book early next year. Prof. Lee's column can be accessed by clicking this. 

DailyPharm, an online journalism company, interviewed Prof. Howard Lee as to how new drug accessibility can be increased by easing the current strict criteria for health insurance reimbursement in Korea. More specifically, Prof. Lee argued the ICER cutoff should be lifted much higher to adequately reflect the economic developments over the past decades. Prof. Lee also discussed time has already come to decide if the nation sticks to an old paradigm of ‘reimbursing everything’ in healthcare, which is absolutely unsustainable financially. Prof. Lee urged the Korean government to show leadership developing a society-wide consensus to build a new fund to support patients with life-threatening diseases, who are likely to die soon unless treated with new, innovative drugs, almost all of which are prohibitively expensive.

The details of Prof. Lee’s interview can be found by clicking this link.

In a news show by YTN, entitled 'The Issue Diagnosis for COVID19', Prof. Howard Lee stressed the importance of vaccination in pregnant women.The US CDC strongly recommended COVID19 vaccination in pregnant and nursing mothers, and Korea has adopted the same policy. However, the current vaccination reservation rate in that population in Korea is only 2% or so, mainly because of the concern about the vaccine side effects. 

Prof. Lee also discussed what kind of opportunities follow-on COVID19 vaccine developers might have. They included new formulation including lyophilized vaccine, new route of administration such as intranasal mist or inhalation vaccines, and new vaccines targeting at variants. Toward the end of the show, Prof. Lee required the Korean government listen to true experts before they make any COVID19 policies and systems. 

The news show was aired on October 16, 2021, and the full program can be watched at the following YouTube page. 

Effective September 1, 2021, Siun Kim will serve as the new lab chief for CCADD. Yoomin Jeon, the former lab chief, stepped down and will continue to be working as a regular member of CCADD. Siun, as the new lab chief, commented, "I feel great honor, privilege, and responsibility to take on this important role." 

Prof. Howard Lee thanked Yoomin for her faithful service since March, 2019. Under Yoomin's leadership, CCADD has been able to evolve to a well-functioning organization. Yoomin also has been spearheading to bring new research funds to CCADD, which is the single most important accomplishment that has made CCADD self-sustaining financially. Not only that, Yoomin has played an indispensable role in expanding the research fields of CCADD, including artificial intelligence-guided clinical trail feasibility assessment and real-world data analytics. 

CCADD wished the best of luck for both Siun and Yoomin. Well done, Yoomin! Welcome, Siun!

On September 30, 2021, Prof. Howard Lee was invited to a live news show, COVID-19 Pandemic, by Arirang TV, an English-speaking broadcasting company in Korea. Prof. Lee introduced the current status of vaccine developments against COVID-19 in Korea, led and sponsored by local biopharmaceutical companies. According to Prof. Lee, there are 10 vaccine candidates in Korea currently under clinical development, phase 1 through 3. Fifty percent or five of those 10 candidates are still in phase I of clinical testing, with 4 and 1 in phase 2 and 3, respectively. Prof. Lee explained, "The vaccine platforms are as diverse as they can be." 

Toward the end of the show, Prof. Lee also discussed the issues pertaining to the vaccine development program by Korean biopharmaceutical companies as a follower. They include design issues, securing a full amount of comparative vaccines, multinational site management, and commitment of the government to purchase or pre-order the vaccine if successfully developed. More details of the news show can be watched by clicking the YouTube link below: 

Prof. Howard Lee emphasized the availability of oral drugs to transition back to the pre-pandemic normal in the midst of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases mainly driven by the highly infectious delta variant. In the COVID-19 Pandemic, a news show by Arirang TV, Prof. Lee detailed what are the prerequisites if the society as a whole can live with the corona virus. 

"Now, people are starting to realize there is an untapped area, probably of more impact, which is to help patients at early stage of the disease go through it in a milder and easier way, Oral COVID-19 drugs can facilitate this transition as smooth and fast as possible." Prof. commented. 

More comments by Prof. Lee can be found at the following YouTube link: 

Prof. Howard Lee was featured in a broadcasting news show by Arirang TV, entitled "COVID-19 Pandemic", on August 5, 2021. Prof. Lee joined this TV show remotely since he was in the US. Below are several comments Prof. Lee made in the show, emphasizing and introducing recent activities of new drug development against COVID-19, particularly antiviral agents. 

"Developing a new vaccine every time variant viruses emerge is like going round in circles. Simply, this kind of endless chasing the tail is not going to work in a situation like the COVID-19 pandemic."

"... more and more COVID-19 drug developers are being redirected to treatments that can be taken orally or even nasally!"

"Molnupiravir... is a fake, dysfunctional building block that the virus uses to copy itself... it can be taken orally in early COVID-19 test-positive patients before they get sick or hospitalized."

A full YouTube videoclip for Prof. Lee's comments can be watched by clicking the following links.