- Shared the effects and safety of Genexol PM with medical specialists in biliary tract cancer in Southeast Asia
- Researcher-initiated clinical trial in progress for Genexol PM application to biliary tract cancer treatment with completion targeted for 2024
- Improved the shortcoming of paclitaxel of not dissolving well in water using drug delivery systems to enable high dosage administration

▲ Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division holds a global webinar on “biliary tract cancer treatment using Genexol PM.”

Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division embarks on biliary tract cancer treatment with Genexol PM, an anticancer drug.

Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division (CEO: Eom Tae-woong) announced on October 6 that the company had hosted a global webinar on “biliary tract cancer treatment using "Genexol PM (export name for Southeast Asia: Paxus PM)” and shared the latest trends of biliary tract cancer treatment using Genexol PM with medical specialists in anticancer treatment in Southeast Asia. Genexol PM is an anticancer drug that has improved on the shortcoming of Genexol Inj. (active ingredient: paclitaxel) for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer.

This webinar was held as a small-scale lecture where only 35 medical specialists in biliary tract cancer treatment from Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines were invited. It was led by Dr. Chong Kwang Jeat from Mahkota Medical Centre in Malaysia, and Professor Dr. Kim Kyu-pyo, an oncologist at Asan Medical Center in Seoul, gave the lecture.

Dr. Kim presented the biliary tract cancer prevalence rates in Korea and Southeast Asian countries and introduced the latest trends and expertise in biliary tract cancer treatment. In particular, Dr. Kim drew the attention of global medical personnel attending the webinar by sharing the effects and safety of Genexol PM for biliary tract cancer treatment.

Since 2013, Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division—in cooperation with Seoul National University Hospital among others—has been continuously conducting a study to verify the effects and safety of Genexol PM for biliary tract cancer treatment and presenting the study paper at domestic and international conferences. Currently, the Biopharmaceuticals Division is jointly conducting a large-scale researcher-initiated clinical trial with Asan Medical Center in Seoul—which it aims to complete by 2024—in order to verify additionally the treatment effects and safety of Genexol PM and to promote the drug administration. Biliary tract cancer patients are experiencing difficulties in receiving treatment as the number of drugs available for administration is smaller than that of other cancers and the administration methods are not diverse.

Genexol PM was released in 2006 as an incrementally modified drug of Genexol to improve on the shortcoming of paclitaxel, which is not easily dissolved in water, using the Biopharmaceuticals Division’s drug delivery system (DDS). While traditional paclitaxel injections have had a limitation in dose due to toxicity/side effects associated with solubilizer, Genexol PM, however, enables high-dose administration as the solubilizer is replaced with DDS.

“The biliary tract cancer prevalence rates in Korea and Southeast Asian countries are relatively higher. Through the investigator-initiated clinical trial for the Genexol PM application to biliary tract cancer treatment, which is being conducted at the moment, we will promote drug administration. We are expecting this will help patients suffering from biliary tract cancer across the world,” an official from Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division said.

Samyang Holdings succeeded in the mass production of paclitaxel from plant cell culture for the first time in the world in 1995. After it started exporting drug substances in 2002, the company also began to export Genexol Inj. drug products in 2003. Currently, Samyang Holdings is exporting various anticancer drug substances and products to 50 companies in about 20 countries around the world including advanced ones such as Germany and Japan.

In partnership with "Kalbe International," Samyang Holdings exports Genexol PM under the name of Paxus PM to Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand. The company also started the export to Myanmar last month. Kalbe International is a subsidiary responsible for exporting and importing pharmaceuticals under the Kalbe Group, the largest pharmaceutical group in Indonesia.