Strong antioxidant `bilirubin` to be developed as a disease treatment for the first time

“We will make ‘bilirubin,’ a substance with antioxidant effects that removes harmful free radicals, as a disease treatment for the first time in the world.”

“Over 20,000 papers since 1987 have shown that bilirubin has a therapeutic effect on various diseases,” said Myung-Lip Kim, CEO of Bilix, a bio company developing new drugs that we met last week at the headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. It has been said for a long time that it should be made into a . Bilirubin, a component extracted from pig blood, is a substance that has a strong antioxidant effect that removes active oxygen, and is known to have immune system regulating and anti-inflammatory effects. Reactive oxygen species play a role in removing bacteria and viruses in the body, but if there are too many of them, they attack normal cells and cause diseases such as aging, arteriosclerosis, and cancer. In this way, bilirubin is a substance that can treat or prevent cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attack. Although it has been attracting attention as a drug, it is because of its `extremely hydrophobic` (characteristic of not being soluble in water). Because of its water insoluble properties, it could not be made into a medicine and administered to the human body.

However, CEO Kim explained that KAIST professor Jeon Sang-yong solved the problem of bilirubin, which is insoluble in water. According to CEO Kim, `PEGylated bilirubin` is what Professor Jeon combined bilirubin with the hydrophilic polymer `polyethylene glycol (PEG)`. Since this substance is easily dissolved in water, it can be made into medicine and administered to the human body. Professor Jeon also discovered through research that pegylated bilirubin effectively removes excessively produced reactive oxygen species and has anti-inflammatory effects.

CEO Kim, who started the business in 2018, said, “We reviewed about 200 to 300 technologies at home and abroad for the start-up, and we judged that the technology developed by Professor Jeon was the best for commercialization and technology and had the greatest potential, so we decided to jointly I started a business,” he explained.