ST Pharm exports $14.6 mn worth of drug ingredients to Europe

ST Pharm Co., a South Korean company specializing in contract development and manufacturing of drug ingredients, has signed a supply contract worth 18 billion won ($14.6 million) with a large European pharmaceutical company.

With the company regaining sales of 200 billion won first in five years since 2017, good performance can be expected this year as well, depending on whether candidate drugs whose ingredients the company is supplying will be approved for sale.

ST Pharm said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it had signed an agreement to supply ingredients for phase 3 clinical trial nucleic acid treatment with a European pharmaceutical firm by Sept. 29.

"The new drug in phase 3 trial is for the treatment of arteriosclerosis. It is a contract for process performance qualification for commercial quantity pilot production needed for a new drug application," explained a company official.

ST Pharm's main product is oligonucleotides, a raw material for ribonucleic acid (RNA)-based nucleic acid therapeutics. Oligonucleotide therapeutics have mostly been used for rare diseases. The demand for raw materials in this area is increasing rapidly as the range of applications is further enlarged to chronic diseases.

The most well-known oligonucleotide therapeutics include Novartis' hyperlipidemia treatment Inclisiran, cardiovascular disease treatment Pelacarsen, Pfizer's Vupanorsen, and Ionis' Olezarsen.

The company grew mainly by supplying ingredients for hepatitis C treatment to Gilead Sciences until 2017, but the number of patients declined rapidly due to the high cure rate of Sovaldi, the drug Gilead produced based on ST Pharm's ingredients.

ST Pharm has sought a breakthrough by increasing the oligonucleotide production capacity, such as building two plants dedicated to churning out oligonucleotides.

Write to Jeong Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com