The code-named 'RCI002' that this company has recently been researching and developing is a project to create a protein therapeutic with pain-relieving effects. This treatment is produced by synthesizing a protein gene in E. coli, expressing it, and then extracting the therapeutic substance. The approach involves optimizing a protein found in vivo and recombining it into a therapeutic capable of suppressing pain in the body over a prolonged period.
The company explained that this substance demonstrated a pain-free duration nearly 20 times longer than gabapentin — a pain reliever commonly administered in general hospitals for chronic pain management. When 65 mg/kg of gabapentin (based on body weight) was administered to mice, pain relief lasted about 4 hours, but when only 0.1 mg/kg of the RCI002 substance was administered, pain relief lasted approximately 3 days.
RudaCure is developing a gene therapy approach that relieves and treats chronic pain using a protein gene that regulates chronic pain in vivo. This is because a single injection can be expected to provide therapeutic effects for 2–3 years. CEO Kim stated, "Pain relievers, local anesthetics, and narcotic analgesics used in general hospitals are not fundamental treatments," adding, "Narcotic analgesics lose their effectiveness as tolerance develops or cause addiction."