[Featured Stock] Shinpung Pharmaceutical, Clinical Results Anticipated... US Begins Stockpiling Oral COVID-19 Treatment

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyungsoo] Shinpung Pharmaceutical is soaring. The news that the U.S. government has signed a pre-purchase agreement for MSD's oral COVID-19 treatment 'Molnupiravir' appears to be influencing the stock price. Although treatment-related stocks were neglected in the domestic market after the introduction of vaccines, the U.S. government's large-scale procurement of treatments seems to have stimulated investor sentiment.

As of 12:40 PM on the 10th, Shinpung Pharmaceutical is trading at 71,100 KRW, up 16.37%.

On the 9th (local time), MSD announced that it had signed a pre-purchase agreement with the U.S. government for the oral treatment Molnupiravir (development code MK-4482). If Molnupiravir receives emergency use authorization or other approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), MSD will supply 1.7 million doses to the U.S. government. The contract is worth approximately 1.2 billion USD (about 1.3 trillion KRW).

Efforts to develop oral treatments are also ongoing domestically. Shinpung Pharmaceutical is about to announce the results of Phase 2 clinical trials in Korea for the antimalarial drug 'Piramax,' which is being developed as a COVID-19 treatment. According to Shinpung Pharmaceutical, the domestic Phase 2 trial was completed on April 21, involving a total of 113 participants across 13 medical institutions nationwide, and the related data is currently being analyzed. One media outlet reported that considering the data analysis period of 30 to 60 days, it is highly likely that the Phase 2 results will be released within this month at the latest.

Yoo Jeman, CEO of Shinpung Pharmaceutical, stated at the company's 59th anniversary event, "This year, we are expanding our R&D investment to about 20% of sales, making our best efforts to accelerate the development of existing pipelines and discover new pipelines."

Some voices in the Yeouido securities community suggest that investors should decide whether to invest only after reviewing the clinical trial results, taking into account previous failures.