Hyundai Bioscience Doses First Patient in Phase 1 Trial for 'Penitrium' Targeting 80-Year-Old Pseudo-Resistance Puzzle

What happened

Hyundai Bioscience announced on the 13th that it has administered the first dose in the low-dose group of its Phase 1 clinical trial for 'Penitrium', a new anticancer drug. The trial, led by Professor Chang-wook Jeong of Seoul National University Hospital, is the world's first to directly verify in humans the 'pseudo-resistance' problem. The first patient is a prostate cancer patient whose PSA levels have surged and who no longer responds to conventional hormone therapy. The trial will enroll patients in low-, medium-, and high-dose groups, combining Penitrium with existing hormone therapy for three months to monitor whether efficacy is restored and assess safety.

Why it matters

This trial aims to solve an 80-year-old challenge in oncology: pseudo-resistance, where cancer cells do not acquire resistance but drugs fail to reach lethal doses due to a physical barrier in the tumor microenvironment. Penitrium dismantles this barrier, restoring drug delivery to lethal levels. If validated, it could delay or avoid switching to chemotherapy with side effects and reduce metastasis risk. The company has filed patents in 23 countries and plans to launch a pancreatic cancer trial, proceeding directly to a global Phase 2 study if interim analysis confirms efficacy.