[Special Stock] Anigen Gains Attention for Potential COVID-19 Antiviral Development...Reevaluated as a New Drug Development Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Anigen's stock price is showing strong performance. It appears that a securities firm's analysis report highlighting the momentum of new drugs under development based on peptide technology is influencing the stock price.

As of 10:06 AM on the 13th, Anigen is trading at 24,200 KRW, up 16.63% from the previous day.

Anigen was originally planned to be established jointly with Samsung Group, but due to restrictions on large corporations' investments, it was independently founded in 2000 and listed on KOSDAQ on December 7, 2016, through a special listing for technology growth companies. It is a first-generation biotech company. Its main business structure includes the production of peptide pharmaceutical raw materials and CMO (Contract Manufacturing Organization). It was the first in Korea to receive approval for a peptide GMP factory.

On the previous day, Minyong Eom, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, explained, "Not only does Anigen have a CMO business through GMP manufacturing facilities, but it has also been preparing a new drug pipeline through its own technology, which allows it to be re-evaluated as a new drug development company."

He added, "Attention should be paid to clinical entry and technology transfer," and stated, "All seven peptide therapeutic pipelines, including PDC (Peptide-drug conjugate) and MAP (Multi-antigenic peptide) technologies, are being developed as innovative new drugs targeting cancer, antiviral, anti-obesity, diabetes, and anti-ulcer treatments."

Furthermore, he emphasized, "They are developing a new drug pipeline by creating peptides that specifically bind to a novel biomarker of cancer cells and virus-infected cells called ‘Nucleorin’," and highlighted that AGM-380, the ‘Nucleorin conjugated peptide,’ also has potential as a COVID-19 antiviral agent."

He analyzed, "AGM-380 is a 'PDC virus therapeutic' substance that connects the Nucleorin conjugated peptide with a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)," and added, "Since it blocks the intracellular viral infection pathway, its potential as a COVID-19 antiviral agent should be noted."

He also said, "It has been revealed that inhibiting Nucleorin also affects RNA translation, thereby suppressing viral assembly," and "It has been confirmed that experiments are currently being prepared to verify its effectiveness against the COVID-19 virus."

He emphasized, "Using Anigen's Nucleorin-binding peptide, high antiviral effects were observed in cells infected with major human viruses such as influenza virus, bovine coronavirus, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, bovine rotavirus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, and porcine sapovirus." He also explained, "In an animal model of influenza virus-infected mice, the AGM-380 treated group showed improved survival rates compared to the positive control group treated with Tamiflu," and "Additionally, pathological analysis of lung tissue confirmed a significant reduction in viral titer in the test group."

He further explained, "Anigen is the only company in Korea approved for a peptide manufacturing GMP factory and owns two such factories," and "They have developed and are selling two peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), Leuprorelin and Desmopressin."

He concluded, "Anigen is the only company possessing PDC (phospholipid-drug conjugate) anticancer and antiviral infection treatment technologies with the new target peptide ‘Nucleorin-binding peptide,’ which suggests new therapeutic methods," and added, "It is currently undervalued with promising growth potential."

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