[Featured Stock] Shinpung Pharmaceutical Rises on Expectations for 'Piramax' COVID-19 Treatment Clinical Trial Approval

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The stock price of Shinpung Pharmaceutical is on the rise. The news that Kim Woo-joo, an authority in South Korea and an infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital, is participating in the clinical trial to verify the efficacy of Shinpung Pharmaceutical's antimalarial drug 'Piramex' as a treatment for COVID-19 appears to have acted as a positive factor.

As of 10:33 a.m. on the 20th, Shinpung Pharmaceutical's stock price was recorded at 17,150 KRW, up 5.54% from the previous day. Around 10 a.m., it even rose to 17,750 KRW, up 9.53% from the previous day.

This is believed to be due to the news that Professor Kim, a domestic authority in the field of infectious diseases, will participate in the Phase 2 clinical trial to verify the efficacy of Piramex against COVID-19. Professor Kim served as a government advisory member during the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak and as a special advisor to the Prime Minister during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.

Earlier, on the 3rd, Shinpung Pharmaceutical announced that in an in vitro experiment using infected cells, the main components of Piramex, pyronaridine and artesunate, each showed an inhibitory effect on the COVID-19 virus. It is expected to take about a month from the announcement of the in vitro results to clinical approval.

Bukwang Pharmaceutical, the first domestic pharmaceutical company to receive Phase 2 clinical trial approval for a COVID-19 treatment from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, announced on the 10th of last month that 'Rebovir' showed an inhibitory effect on the COVID-19 virus in an in vitro test, and received Phase 2 clinical trial approval on the 14th, about a month later.