[Featured Stock] Cellivery Signs Production Contract for Capsule-Type Obesity Treatment to Capture 1 Trillion Won Sales of Saxenda

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Cellivery is showing strong performance. The news that it signed a contract with the U.S. Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) Catalent to produce the capsule-type obesity treatment drug 'CP-SP' appears to have influenced its stock price.

As of 11:38 AM on the 13th, Cellivery is trading at 128,500 KRW, up 5.59% from the previous day.

Cellivery holds a candidate drug for obesity and type 2 diabetes treatment called 'CP-DeltaSOCS3.' Unlike CP-DeltaSOCS3, a protein drug composed of 252 amino acids, CP-SP is a peptide drug composed of 45 amino acids. Substances composed of 2 to 50 amino acids are called peptides, and when composed of more than 50 amino acids, they are called proteins.

Cho Dae-woong, CEO of Cellivery, said, "CP-SP is a peptide substance made of minimal amino acids that specifically binds to the leptin receptor, an appetite-suppressing hormone," and added, "Unlike recombinant proteins, it can be mass-produced immediately without complex process development."

CP-SP is not destroyed in the stomach but dissolves in the intestines. Applying Cellivery's drug delivery technology, it directly penetrates the intestinal villi membrane and enters the bloodstream. Then, it crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and acts on the leptin receptor in the hypothalamus of the brain to normalize leptin function.

According to the company's own animal experiments, CP-SP showed an equivalent weight loss effect at a dose 3,000 times lower than CP-DeltaSOCS3. A company official stated, "When rats were fed a high-fat diet and administered the two drugs, CP-DeltaSOCS3 reduced weight by 9%, while CP-SP reduced it by 10.7%."

The fat absorption inhibitor obesity treatment drug Xenical recorded sales of $180 million in 2018. It showed a 5-10% weight loss effect when taken for one year. The appetite suppressant obesity treatment drug Saxenda recorded sales of $920 million last year. It showed a 5-10% weight loss effect when administered daily by subcutaneous injection for one year. Side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and skin disorders were observed.

Cellivery sees an advantage in CP-SP being an oral drug compared to competing drugs. Saxenda by Novo Nordisk, which dominates the obesity treatment market, is an injectable drug.

CEO Cho emphasized, "Oral obesity treatments can greatly expand the obesity treatment market by improving patient convenience," and added, "The fact that it can replace psychotropic drugs with severe side effects can also attract the attention of global pharmaceutical companies."