“We can overcome Cancer with oriental therapy!” Interview with Shane Kim, Founder & Chairman of JOWIN

Recently, JOWIN Corporation announced that it would conduct the human test of the ‘Cancer Integrated Treatment-Care Solution’ jointly with cancer specialist hospital Cheonan Danaheal Hospital under the IRB approval, and started the relevant procedure.

So far Unbije has been prescribed in Oriental clinics or Oriental medicine hospitals, and for the nationwide and overseas expansion, we have started an official clinical trial in the accredited medical institution under the approval of an IRB and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Based on the secret medical prescription of Dongui Bogam, this clinical trial is composed of △ Oriental medicine treatment using 'Unbije', a natural herbal medicine used to treat cancer patients in Oriental medicine hospitals, △ a diet with anticancer foods recommended by clinical nutritionists, △ a systematic management program by an oncologist who has been treating and consulted by 40,000 cancer patients, △ a mind-healing program by experts such as meditation to relieve various stresses experienced by patients. and △ an integrated complementary treatment method such as thermotherapy that is harmless to the human body and has long-lasting effects. The results of this clinical trial will be published as research papers in domestic and overseas medical journals.

We had an interview with Kim Soo Hyun, CEO of JOWIN.

- What are the strengths of Unbije compared with other anticancer treatments?

Unbije is composed of the highest grade sericite that has been verified in cancer patients through clinical trials for a long time, and has also shown preventive and therapeutic effects against adult chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and heart disease.
In addition, the product has efficacy of vascular relaxation and improvement in blood circulation by increasing the generation of NO in the vascular endothelial cells.
When cancer is diagnosed, it is mainly treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
At the time of diagnosis, a treatment plan is established depending on the cancer type and stage, and condition of the patient, and if cancer is diagnosed at a later stage, the treatment plan shall be limited. Particularly, if the cancer type is the highly malignant one that doesn’t respond to the existing treatment, the cancer stage is very late, or the patient is much weakened, it will be more difficult to establish a treatment plan. In this case, if JOWIN’s Unbise and cancer treatment solution are used in combination, a good prognosis can be expected.
Sericite, the raw material of Unbije, is the medicinal material recognized for a long time and recorded in many Oriental medicine books such as Dongui Bogam, Compendium of Materia Medica, Hyangyak Jipseongbang and Shennong Ben Cao Jing.
According to the recent research, Unbije was shown to have significant effects of suppression and eradication of cancer cells, and it was also reported that there is no toxicity to normal cells. Clinical test results so far suggest that non-toxic Unbije can lead to the effective eradication of cancer cells and at the same time, the product has no side effects even in long term use.

- What is the expected effect of Unbije?

So far, based on treatment experience in the medical field, a research agreement was signed with Chungnam National University Hospital, which has a lot of research experience of Unbije, and studied the mechanism of action of Unbije, which found that on incurable triple-negative breast cancer, Unbije 1) has a ROS suppression effect on cancer cells, 2) generates far-IR to kill cancer cells, 3) inhibits division and growth of cancer cells, and 4) suppresses the growth of cancerous tissues. We expect clinical trials on various breast cancers and activation of basic medical research based on such collaboration with the national university medical school, and through this technology, we are carrying out research and animal testing on different cancers such as lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer and colon cancer in addition to breast cancer, and various other diseases.
Although Unbije belongs to an Oriental herbal medicine that already can be prescribed, it is opening a new paradigm in the field of cancer treatment by accumulating treatment cases and data through the establishment of evidence and consistent clinical trials.

- JOWIN’s Unbije showed effects mainly when patients with stage 4 or terminal cancer were treated. If so, will it be also effective for patients with Stage 1 - 3 cancer? 

Last month, JOWIN Corporation and Hangang Yonsei Hospital signed a medical collaboration agreement to apply JOWIN’s ‘Cancer Integrated Treatment-Care Solution’ for the enhancement of standard cancer treatment, the reduction of side effects and the improvement in the patients’ quality of life.
We plan to focus on the management of the quality of patients’ life by increasing the standard treatment effect of cancer patients and reducing side effects through applying JOWIN’s ‘Cancer Integrated Treatment-Care Solution’ together in addition to existing pain relief, immunotherapy and high-frequency thermotherapy. In addition, personalized treatment for patients through genetic tests will also be provided.
We expect this ‘Cancer Integrated Treatment-Care Solution’ can enhance the effects of standard cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy regardless of the cancer progression stages from 1 to 4.
In the past, because Oriental clinics and Oriental medicine hospitals treated cancer treatments, most of the patients patients(theㅊ had stage 4 or terminal cancer, but through this collaboration, we will be able to apply this solution generally to patients with all stages of cancer, which ensures we will get more treatment data. And I think this is quite significant.

Dr. Kim Kiyong, the director of Hangang Yonsei Hospital, said, “Although the cancer treatment system centered on large hospitals shows many good outcomes, it does not provide the close care for patients outside of those hospitals, so it is necessary to receive various complementary and integrated treatments at local clinics or specialized hospitals with good patient access,” and is expecting the expansion to new markets by local clinics and hospitals thanks to this project.    The Hangang Yonsei Hospital’s adoption of the ‘Cancer Integrated Treatment-Care Solution’ will trigger the expansion of JOWIN’s new cancer treatment method to not only patients with stage 1 to 3 cancer but also cancer patients who want to prevent cancer recurrence after complete remission.

- It is thought the cancer treatment business targets all over the world. What is the expansion plan to overseas markets?

Globally, a large number of new cancer cases are diagnosed every year, and as the number of patients with cancer which doesn’t reach complete remission, and their families is increasing, they are suffering physically, mentally and economically a lot.
I hope now a large amount of data to be accumulated through the ‘Cancer Integrated Treatment-Care Solution’ including non-toxic Unbije provided by JOWIN Corporation will be helpful in treating various types and stages of cancer so that it can give patients a small hope. For this, we are preparing to recruit cancer patients overseas and taking steps for the export of Unbije and licensing of JOWIN’s cancer treatment solution to each country.
I think it is the fate given by heaven that Korea’s JOWIN possesses a mine that has a huge amount of reserves of the highest quality sericite, the raw material of Unbije. And I am dreaming that in the future, starting from Korea, the ‘Cancer Integrated Treatment-Care Solution’ becomes a tool to revive a spark of hope for patients with incurable cancer and their families.

- Is there any difficulty in entering overseas markets because Unbije belongs to herbal medicine?

A new Western medicine will take more than 10 years and an astronomical amount of money to develop, and the success rate is very low. However, Unbije, a mineral herbal medicine, is classified as a non-toxic edible mineral or herbal medicine although it is different from country to country, and particularly, it can be exported without difficulty to the US and Europe where Oriental doctors are approved, so local Oriental doctors can prescribe it.
As most of the countries have a system that allows compassionate use of an unauthorized drug for patients with stage 4 or terminal cancer if consent is obtained from guardians and patients, this will be able to be used for many cancer patients all over the world once more favourable clinical data are accumulated. Already a lot of inquiries are pouring in from the countries like the US where the Oriental doctor system is in place, and we are building an online training system for Oriental doctors at home and abroad for expansion of treatment region and activation.
In addition, humans have been using natural clay and mineral for therapeutic purposes since 2,500 BC. Even now, many people in Africa eat 100 – 300 g of soil a day for health and therapeutic purpose, and it was confirmed that global big pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer have been developing pharmaceuticals using palygorskite mineral present in the Southeastern region of the US. The development of medicines using plants, animals and minerals has been done regardless of time and regions, so we will utilize this point actively when trying to advance to overseas markets.

- Is there any backlash from the community of modern medicine to you as you are producing great results with Oriental medicine cancer treatment?

Unbije started as herbal medicine, but it has been evolving through the addition of alkaline silicate solution based on various cancer treatment-related papers. We are conducting scientific mechanism research with a national university medical school and collaborating with cancer hospitals.
"We have met hundreds of medical professionals including doctors and Oriental doctors over the past two years. There were so many talented people in each field, and there were so many people who agreed with JOWIN's vision. We are creating various networks with them. We will work together to find ways to save people and improve the quality of life for those who are sick.”
The K-Integrated Cancer Prevention and Treatment Forum held last January is a good example. We had a foundation ceremony with ten doctors and ten oriental doctors. We are trying to increase the disease control rate of cancer treatment by working together with modern medicine and Oriental medicine.
We believe that an ideal cancer treatment solution to lead the global cancer treatment market will be created if we build up the data of the treatment results from a scientific point of view, and develop them by combining the strengths of modern medicine while taking advantage of the strengths of Oriental medicine.
At a time when K-Culture such as Korean songs and movies is raising its global status, JOWIN aims to become a global biopharmaceutical company with K-Medicine that combines the strengths of modern medicine based on Oriental medicine.

- You have had many successful experiences in other fields. Is there any particular reason you want to focus on health care, which is different from the field you have worked in before?

Because my mother was an obstetrician, I was able to hear the mystery and process of the birth of life throughout my life. And my father was an Oriental doctor, but he died of overwork while treating patients with cancer and incurable diseases and night.
While my parents have lived fiercely, facing birth and death of life, I have devoted myself to revitalizing companies and their sustainable growth through my experience of corporate incubation and M&A, start-up and listing for 30 years.
The reason why we decided to focus on healthcare, especially cancer prevention and treatment, is that modern medicine has not yet been able to solve them well, and a huge market and the potential to grow globally exist in this field. The biggest reason above all is the cancer treatment effect of JOWIN's natural anticancer agent, Unbije. This is the background that led me to focusing on the business of saving lives and promoting the health of humans in the last chapter of my life. It also means that I have inherited the benevolent art of dedication and love my parents gave to patients as a doctor and an Oriental doctor throughout their lives.
Unbije’s cancer treatment effect has continued to evolve by adding medicinal water good for cancer patients, such as ‘Sio200’, based on information from the Japanese Silicon Society. If this trend continues, the cancer treatment rate will be dramatically increased in the near future, and I am convinced that this innovative challenge can be recognized worldwide.

- What is JOWIN's management plan for this year?

If the year 2021 was the time to verify the efficacy of Unbije based on Oriental medicine hospitals and clinics, we are aiming for an integrated cancer treatment market by expanding to general hospitals and clinics in the year 2022. As a result of these efforts, there have already been hospitals that adopted the integrated cancer treatment, and we plan to continue expanding it.
In order to provide cancer treatment solutions, JOWIN is making every effort to find solutions and spread them with experts from various fields such as healthy water, diet therapy to overcome cancer, meditation apps for psychological treatment, and laughter therapy with Unbije as a basis.
We are also preparing to advance to overseas markets, and it is very important to introduce K-Medicine based on data. To this end, we are conducting animal testing and are in the process of carrying out official clinical trials.
At the end of last year, we had an accounting firm's corporate valuation to attract large-scale investment and were evaluated as a unicorn worth 1.3 trillion won. This evaluation reflects not only the cancer treatment effect of Unbije, but also the high value of the raw ore mine of a reserve of 15 million tons of sericite, the raw material of Unbije, which was recently acquired by JOWIN, and 'Healthinsu', a cancer prevention project of JOWIN.

- What is your plan for new product development?

JOWIN has two ongoing main businesses. One is related to the treatment solution for cancer and incurable diseases mentioned earlier, and the other is health (functional) food.
We are about to launch a meditation app along with physical therapy. We focused on the fact that cancer patients suffered from various psychological stresses and chronic lack of sleep, in addition to dietary habit problems. They can receive regular and continuous treatment through a meditation app, rather than one-off treatment. Furthermore, through VR, we plan to let them experience the beautiful scenery of Switzerland in a healthy way and induce a hormone called didorphin while walking on the beach of the Maldives. In the mid- to long-term, we plan to use a metaverse to create a platform that allows them to be healthy and active in the virtual world.
The health (functional) food business is the one that researches and provides health functional foods or general foods that can help patients with cancer and incurable disease overcome their diseases.
General foods include germinated brown rice, anti-cancer kimchi, anti-cancer egg, and anti-cancer soybean paste, which are easy to eat and good for the body.
In addition, the health functional food business is not just their sale, but a new business model linking insurance to health functional food, a program for which we filed a wide range of patent applications.
This program is called 'Healthinsu', which is a ground-breaking program that provides free insurance for cancer, dementia, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease and so on when you subscribe to health functional foods for a year. This program is for all people who are concerned about health, and it is a program that can take care of health with health functional food and at the same time catch any concerns you might have just in case.
This prevention project, which JOWIN has been preparing for the past 5 years, is a program developed by many other doctors and Dr. Yoo Jung-soo, a director of JOWIN's research institute and Ph.D. in pharmaceutical science, who has published many papers and supplied nutritional supplements to functional medicine hospitals for more than 20 years. This model can dramatically lower the payment rate of insurance companies, which leads to a positive effect of lowering insurance premiums or raising the limit of insurance payments. In a situation where the domestic cancer insurance market alone exceeds 30 trillion won, it is evaluated as a patent model that can have unrivalled competitiveness.
We already launched a pilot service with A PLUS ASSET ADVISOR Co., Ltd. in the second half of last year, and this year, we plan to popularize Healthinsu in direct connection with insurance companies. If you look at the health functional food market, there are many competing products. However, Healthinshu products do not end with simple sales, but even provide insurance, so it is a business model that has to be spontaneously chosen by customers.
In the meantime, the health functional food market has spent a lot of money on distribution and advertisement through home shopping, pyramid schemes or star advertisements. However, JOWIN will change the landscape of the existing insurance and health functional product market with the Healthinsu concept that pays these distribution and advertising costs back as insurance benefits to consumers.

- We heard that you also have a medical device that is effective in treating cancer in addition to Unbije. What is it?

We have a whole body heater called 'Unbion', which is a simple heater and has been approved as a medical device. If you lie down in it for about 30 minutes, your body temperature will rise, and the increased body temperature due to the far-infrared effect of raw ore is maintained for about 4 hours. So, terminal cancer patients shall install Unbion at home, and lie down in it for 30 minutes every 4 hours. The existing cancer treatment heaters are difficult to be installed at patients’ homes because of the high price, but Unbion provides low-cost treatment because it is easy to install and inexpensive. The reason why JOWIN is interested in developing such home medical devices for cancer treatment and anticancer food is that cancer patients undergoing outpatient treatment can maximize the therapeutic effect through continuous management at home.

- Lastly, what would you like to say in the interview?

When my father died of overwork while working day and night to save cancer patients without caring for himself, I couldn't understand his life as he lived for others more than his family. However, as I became my father's age, I felt very rewarded and happy to see that patients were treated and patients' families were happy together. Naturally, I found myself meeting domestic and foreign experts, researching papers and reading books while sleeping less. That is why I will live the rest of my life for others, not myself.
In fact, the survival rate after a cancer diagnosis is still around 50-60%, except for some cancers (thyroid cancer). In particular, the survival rate drops significantly when detected after stage 4. We believe that JOWIN's integrated cancer treatment is essential to overcome this situation, and we will contribute to providing such an integrated cancer treatment solution to realize the company's vision of loving life. We will work hard until the day comes when we become a hectocorn beyond a decacorn by overcoming cancer and incurable diseases.

** Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an independent consensus-based decision-making body that can approve research plans by reviewing the ethical and scientific aspects of all life science research targeting humans for the rights, safety, and welfare of research subjects participating in clinical research.

*Unicorn: A startup worth more than 1 trillion won.
*Decacorn: A startup worth more than 10 trillion won.
*Hectocorn: A startup worth more than 100 trillion won.