Hyundai Bioscience said Sunday it will develop a broad-spectrum antiviral drug with the US National Institutes of Health, a federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.

Hyundai Bioscience USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Bioscience, signed a Non-Clinical Evaluation Agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the NIH.

Under the contract, Hyundai Bioscience USA will provide Xafty (CP-COV03), a candidate for COVID-19 antivirals, to the NIAID, which will conduct various non-clinical experiments with it.

The partnership between Hyundai Bioscience USA and the NIAID is part of the Antiviral Program for Pandemics that the US government has run since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The APP is aimed at developing "safe and effective antivirals to combat" the virus that caused COVID-19, as well as building "sustainable platforms for targeted drug discovery and development of a robust pipeline of antivirals against viruses with pandemic potential."

Hyundai Bioscience said the two parties will conduct experiments to see if Xafty can treat 10 viruses, including MERS and RSV, and continue working together through the phase 2 clinical study.

In June, Hyundai Bioscience filed the results of the clinical study of Xafty with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency for emergency use authorization on COVID-19.

It said the antiviral has shown high efficacy even in the high-risk group for COVID-19. (Yonhap)