Claimed "95% Treatment Efficacy," But What Was the Reality of the Clinical Trial?

[Anchor]

Nominee Kim Seung-won explained that the background behind his petition to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was based on clinical trial results showing that "95% of COVID-19 patients recovered." We analyzed what clinical trial Nominee Kim saw and whether it went through proper academic verification.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the details.

[Reporter]

Regarding the background of why he filed a petition with then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Gang-lip in October 2021, Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won stated today (7th):

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice: As a result of reviewing the materials after hearing the petition, it was a report showing that Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials for the product were underway overseas, and that the results were decent...]

Previously, he also stated, "I reviewed data showing that 95% of COVID-19 patients recovered."

At the time the petition was delivered, the new drug data from the pharmaceutical company GenenCell consisted virtually entirely of a company announcement and a few news articles released in December 2020.

The content claimed that "Phase 2 clinical trials in India were completed, proving high efficacy as more than 95% of COVID-19 patients recovered, which is vastly superior compared to India's standard treatment showing about 68% efficacy."

However, the contents of the Indian clinical trial paper released in January 2022, three months after Nominee Kim's petition, were slightly different.

The clinical research team divided 60 patients into two groups, administering "the new drug candidate along with standard treatment" to one group, and "a placebo along with standard treatment" to the other.

Patients took not only the new drug candidate but also India's existing standard treatment together.

The clinical research team wrote, "Conducting clinical trials with the new drug alone is something that must be done in the future."

A university hospital professor pointed out to SBS, "Even though the superiority of the new drug candidate compared to the standard treatment was not proven, the company's announcement described it as if the two were directly compared, leaving a high possibility of misdirection."

This paper was a preprint, meaning it was a preliminary paper that had not undergone peer review by fellow doctors, and no formal paper has been published additionally since then.

Following Nominee Kim's petition to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, GenenCell founder Professor Kang sold stock worth 6.3 billion won.

Regarding whether he was aware of the limitations of the data at the time, Nominee Kim's side reaffirmed their previous stance, stating, "The nominee is a non-expert in medicine and transmitted the petition after confirming the data stating that 95% of patients recovered."

(Camera: Joo Yong-jin | Video Editing: Kim Jun-hee | Design: Hwang Se-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.