Pamicell Expects Record Performance This Year Due to COVID-19 Vaccine Raw Material Supply

Production of Essential Raw Pharmaceutical Materials for Pfizer and Moderna mRNA Vaccines... "Expecting Four Consecutive Years of Profit"
Sales Increase Due to COVID Vaccines... Annual Record High Performance

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Pharmicell expects the sales growth rate of active pharmaceutical ingredients such as nucleosides and mPEG, which it produces, to accelerate.

Pharmicell projected on the 19th that its sales of active pharmaceutical ingredients will exceed 30 billion KRW this year. It expects an increase of more than 50% compared to last year's sales of 19.2 billion KRW.

A company official explained, "This is because supply requests from domestic and overseas pharmaceutical companies continue as these ingredients are used in the production of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, and others."

Nucleoside, which recorded sales of 13.6 billion KRW last year and led performance growth, was supplied as a raw material for existing COVID-19 diagnostics and mRNA pharmaceuticals. This year, new orders for 'vaccine purification' are expected to be placed, likely setting a new record high performance once again.

mRNA vaccines undergo a purification process to remove impurities generated during manufacturing, and DMT-dT, one of the nucleoside types produced by Pharmicell, is used for this purpose.

A Pharmicell official emphasized, "Thermo Fisher Scientific in the U.S. mentioned that the demand for nucleosides for purification in the global market is increasing," adding, "They are continuously requesting additional orders." Furthermore, "Nucleoside sales are expected to exceed 25 billion KRW," and "Since the expansion of the active pharmaceutical ingredient factory will be completed soon, we expect to break the record for the highest performance once again."

mPEG (Methoxy-Polyethylene glycol) is experiencing a steep increase in sales of its 2K product this year. All currently commercialized mRNA vaccines utilize lipid nanoparticle technology that requires mPEG (2K) for delivery into the human body. Lipid nanoparticles containing mPEG (2K) help the particles easily pass through cell membranes and remain stable in the body for extended periods.

A company official introduced, "Merck & Cie, which signed a business cooperation contract for mPEG five years ago, is a specialized company within the Merck group responsible for the development and manufacturing of high-purity drug delivery compounds." He added, "They have excellent technology and research capabilities and have many customers worldwide," explaining, "Demand is expected to increase more distinctly."

It is known that large global pharmaceutical companies currently prefer stable and mass production through continuous transactions with Pharmicell. Pharmicell counts Thermo Fisher Scientific in the U.S. and Merck in Germany as major customers for nucleosides. For mPEG, it has a business cooperation relationship with Merck in Germany, has signed a supply contract with Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB, and counts Necta and Sunbio as major trading partners.