[Special Stock] KPM Tech, Humanigen COVID-19 Treatment Recovers High-Risk Group in Average 5 Days... Priority Negotiation Rights for Licensing

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] KPM Tech is showing strong performance for the second consecutive day. This is interpreted as a result of growing expectations for the success of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) treatment being developed by Humanigen, in which it has invested.

As of 12:25 PM on the 17th, KPM Tech is trading at 1,245 KRW, up 16.9% from the previous trading day.

Earlier, on the 15th (U.S. local time), Humanigen announced the results of the CUP clinical trial for its COVID-19 treatment using its pipeline drug 'Lenzilumab' conducted at the Mayo Clinic, a U.S. COVID-19 specialized center.

Humanigen published a paper on the results of the Compassionate Use Program (CUP). Compassionate use refers to a system that permits the use of investigational drugs that are under development but not yet approved, in cases where patients face life-threatening, long-term, or severe diseases with no adequate treatment options and would otherwise have to forgo treatment.

The COVID-19 treatment Lenzilumab prevents and treats cytokine storms, a major cause of death. It is currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials approved by the U.S. FDA, and this CUP was conducted as part of the Phase 3 trial.

According to Humanigen, the clinical trial involved 12 patients. The entire patient group was high-risk, with serious underlying conditions such as ▲advanced age ▲history of smoking ▲cardiovascular disease ▲diabetes ▲chronic kidney disease ▲chronic lung disease ▲high BMI (body mass index) and inflammatory responses.

Among the 12 patients, 4 were in intensive care units but moved to general wards after treatment, and 11 were discharged. The average treatment period until recovery was 5 days, and consistent improvements were observed in oxygen saturation, body temperature, and inflammatory cytokines.

KPM Tech formed a consortium with its affiliate Telcon RF Pharmaceutical and invested approximately 4.9 billion KRW in Humanigen on the 2nd at 0.87 USD per share. Humanigen is a U.S.-based cell and gene therapy development company.

A representative of the KPM consortium said, “As COVID-19 is becoming severe worldwide again, the clinical results are encouraging, and we expect the upcoming Phase 3 trial results to be positive as well. Since we hold the first negotiation rights for the domestic market license, we plan to continue negotiations smoothly.”

He added, “We also expect that Humanigen’s listing on the U.S. stock market, led by JP Morgan, will gain momentum.”

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