Huons Global subsidiary Huons Biopharma is accelerating development of an eye drop treatment for macular degeneration with government support.
Huons Biopharma said on the 23rd it was selected for the "2026 first national new drug development project to build a new drug R&D ecosystem," led by the National New Drug Development Project Team. The selected task is nonclinical research to enter a U.S. phase 2 trial for a peptide eye drop treatment targeting "geographic atrophy," the late stage of dry macular degeneration.
The company plans to carry out active pharmaceutical ingredient production, formulation development, toxicity studies, and finished drug production over the next two years with government research funding. It will work with U.S. ophthalmology-focused contract research organization (CRO) ORA and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) to prepare for U.S. phase 2 approval.
Geographic atrophy is the late stage of dry macular degeneration, in which retinal cells are lost and vision is permanently reduced. Two related therapies were recently approved in the United States, but both must be administered by intravitreal injection and only slow disease progression, offering limited vision recovery. Concerns have also been raised about side effects such as retinal vasculitis.
Huons Biopharma introduced a peptide therapy technology for dry macular degeneration from the Natural Product New Drug Development Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Dec. 2024. Since then, it has pursued development of a geographic atrophy treatment based on the candidate.
The therapy under development is an eye drop that selectively blocks retinal inflammatory signaling and is expected to replace ocular injections, improving patients' dosing convenience and adherence.
Chief Executive Lee Jeong-hee of Huons Biopharma said, "With this national project selection, we will receive support for nonclinical research on a therapy for dry macular degeneration," and added, "We will do our best in development to offer a new treatment option for patients with geographic atrophy."