The Good News in the Development of New Drugs for COVID-19!

With the COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Taiwan surpassing 20%, there is hope for the relaxation of the nationwide third-level alert. At this moment, the first antibiotic developed independently by a Taiwanese biotech company has delivered encouraging results in tests for suppressing the novel coronavirus. This marks a significant step forward in the research and development of new treatments for COVID-19.

Anti-Microbial Savior BioteQ Co., Ltd. (AMS BioteQ) has announced the development of its new antibiotic, YUAN-03, and commissioned Professor Sui-Yuan Chang’s team at the Department of Clinical Laboratory Science and Medical Biotechnology at National Taiwan University to conduct in vitro antiviral tests for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The results confirm that YUAN-03 can effectively inhibit the infection rate of the novel coronavirus, which is truly remarkable! Dr. Yi-Ju Tsai, Chairman of AMS BioteQ, stated that YUAN-03 is a novel antibiotic derived from locally sourced edible medicinal fungi, represents Taiwan’s first domestically developed antibiotic. In April of this year, YUAN-03 demonstrated close to a 100% virus inhibition rate in tests conducted at the National Health Research Institutes against the human coronavirus hCoV-OC43. In in vitro antiviral test of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus conducted by the research team at National Taiwan University, it has been confirmed that a concentration of 51.63 µg/mL inhibits 50% of virus infection, and higher concentrations, up to 75 µg/mL, achieve a high rate of virus inhibition. This signifies recognition of AMS BioteQ’s strategy of developing new drugs using unique, innovative, and leading-edge technology.

He emphasized that through the tests conducted in these two internationally renowned laboratories, YUAN-03 can achieve equally high virus inhibition rates for different coronaviruses. This confirms that the first antibiotic developed by Taiwanese researchers not only offers hope as a treatment for novel coronavirus infections but may also exhibit significant therapeutic effects on diseases caused by other coronaviruses.

Professor Sui-Yuan Chang, the first scholar in Taiwan to isolate the novel coronavirus strain, led her team through numerous challenging tasks related to testing and research during Taiwan’s epidemic prevention process. Her team is the most knowledgeable about the novel coronavirus. In in vitro antiviral tests, YUAN-03 was conducted through various methods, including the virus plaque reduction assay, yield reduction assay, and acid phosphatase analysis, all supervised by Professor Chang’s team. The results showed that YUAN-03 inhibits 50% of virus infection at a concentration of 51.63 µg/mL, and when tested at a concentration of 75 µg/mL, it effectively achieved almost 100% inhibition of novel coronavirus infection rates. This performance instills greater confidence in the effectiveness of this new drug in the future treatment of COVID-19.

Dr. Yi-Ju Tsai stated that YUAN-03 will continue to undergo testing for the efficacy of inhibiting the Alpha and Delta variants of the virus. If the tests are successful, animal trials will be conducted, and there are plans to form collaborations with renowned foreign pharmaceutical companies. The goal is to make concrete progress in the development of new drugs for COVID-19 by the end of this year. This would enable Taiwan and the global community to actively combat the invasion of new variants of the virus and eliminate the threat posed by the pandemic through more effective treatments.