[Market Feature] Onconic Therapeutics Rises on Growth Prospects Driven by Zacubo Sales; Target Price Set at 50,000 Won

by Ryu Hyunseok

Published 15 Sep.2025 13:36(KST)

Onconic Therapeutics is showing strong performance. This appears to be influenced by a securities firm's analysis that anticipates growth centered around its gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment, "Zacubo."

[Market Feature] Onconic Therapeutics Rises on Growth Prospects Driven by Zacubo Sales; Target Price Set at 50,000 Won

As of 1:36 p.m. on September 15, Onconic Therapeutics was trading at 37,000 won, up 750 won (2.07%) from the previous trading day.

Hyundai Motor Securities set a target price of 50,000 won for Onconic Therapeutics on this day. The company holds Zacubo (Zastaprazan), a P-CAB (Potassium-Competitive Acid Blocker) medication prescribed for gastroesophageal reflux disease (reflux esophagitis), as its core product. This P-CAB drug targets the unmet needs of existing PPI-based gastroesophageal reflux disease suppressants.

Ye Nohrae, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, stated, "The gastroesophageal reflux disease market is valued at 1.37 trillion won, with P-CAB drugs accounting for 16% of this market," and added, "Zacubo has been approved and sold since October 2024." She continued, "Livzon, the leading partner in the digestive disease sector in China, is expected to complete phase 3 clinical trials in August 2025, apply for approval, and launch the product in 2027."

The researcher emphasized the need to pay attention to the synthetic lethal anticancer drug currently under development. She explained, "The anticancer drug being developed as a follow-up to Zacubo, which serves as a cash cow, is Nesuparib, a PARP synthetic lethal agent with a dual inhibition structure targeting Tankyrase1/2." She further explained, "When a PARP inhibitor is administered to cancer cells with BRCA mutations, DNA repair does not occur, leading to the death of cancer cells."

She stated, "Phase 1 clinical trials have been completed domestically, confirming a 28% objective response rate and a 65% disease control rate, observed in 4 out of 5 patients with terminal ovarian cancer." She added, "As the phase 1b/2 trials expand to pancreatic and gastric cancer patients in the United States, the drug has been designated as an orphan drug by the FDA." She further noted, "Nesuparib is expected to demonstrate superior efficacy compared to existing PARP therapies, as clinical trials are being conducted in both the pancreatic cancer market, where existing drugs have already penetrated, and the gastric cancer market, where there are currently no available drugs."