[Special Stock] Aprogen Pharma Highlights 'Big 5' Biosimilar Production Capacity Amid COVID-19 Expectations

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Aprogen Pharmaceuticals' stock price is showing strong performance. The osteoporosis treatment drug 'Raloxifene' has been reported to have an effect in suppressing the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which appears to have influenced the stock price. It is understood that Aprogen Pharmaceuticals received manufacturing approval for Evira tablets (Raloxifene hydrochloride), containing the active ingredient Raloxifene hydrochloride, leading to a surge in buy orders.

As of 1:29 PM on the 15th, Aprogen Pharmaceuticals is trading at 2,030 KRW, up 10.93% compared to the previous trading day.

The Gyeonggi-do Economic Science Promotion Agency announced that through joint research with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Institute of Health to identify COVID-19 virus suppression activity, it was confirmed at the cellular level that Raloxifene has COVID-19 virus suppression activity.

Gyeonggi-do focused on the fact that Raloxifene has suppressive effects on coronavirus family viruses and is a substance with established safety as an already marketed drug, and began supporting clinical research in March. They plan to promote technology transfer through a public offering targeting local companies involved in Raloxifene production with overseas clinical research capabilities.

The Aprogen Group, which includes Aprogen Pharmaceuticals and stands out in the biosimilar (biopharmaceutical generic) field, is also considered a positive factor. The Aprogen Group invested 370 billion KRW to complete the Osong plant in Chungbuk.

On the 26th of last month, Aprogen completed the Osong plant, enabling the production of 2.4 to 2.88 million liters of culture medium annually. Culture medium refers to the substance containing the drug after cultivation is completed. The total culture medium production capacity during the approximately 20-day extraction process is 240,000 liters. This is about two-thirds of Samsung Biologics' 360,000 liters. Among global contract manufacturing organizations (CMO) for pharmaceuticals, Aprogen ranks fifth, following Samsung Biologics, Boehringer Ingelheim (300,000 liters), and Lonza (280,000 liters). Aprogen Pharmaceuticals is currently raising funds to secure biosimilar production capacity.

Stock prices of biosimilar companies such as Samsung Biologics and Celltrion have recorded high growth rates in the domestic stock market this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.