Order Backlog Reaches 453.8 Billion KRW, Up 96% Year-on-Year
Target Sales Expected Upon Operation of Second Oligo Building in September
The order performance of ST Pharm, a subsidiary of Dong-A Socio Group, is on an upward trend. Although only the first half of the year has just passed, the company is already showing results nearly double the order backlog of last year.
According to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry on July 7, ST Pharm's order backlog so far this year stands at a total of 453.8 billion KRW. In the first half of the year, ST Pharm signed a total of nine supply contracts for oligonucleotide (oligo) active pharmaceutical ingredients and one contract for contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services. Immediately after entering the second half, on July 2, the company signed a supply contract worth 7.66 million USD (approximately 10.4 billion KRW) for small molecule new drug active pharmaceutical ingredients with a global pharmaceutical company in Europe. The company also secured a supply contract for next year's commercial batch of this small molecule new drug, which is expected to receive commercialization approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second half of this year.
The order backlog of 453.8 billion KRW represents an increase of approximately 96% compared to the total performance of the previous year. ST Pharm's order backlog has continued to rise, from 139.6 billion KRW in 2022 to 188.8 billion KRW in 2023 and 232 billion KRW in 2024.
Additional orders are also expected in the second half of the year. A company representative stated, "Due to the nature of the order-based industry, contracts tend to be concentrated in the fourth quarter," and added, "The order flow is not bad."
The company is also expected to achieve its annual sales target without difficulty. Previously, in a disclosure in March, ST Pharm presented a provisional sales target of 320 billion KRW for 2025.
In September, the 'Second Oligo Building' at the Banwol Campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, is scheduled for completion. ST Pharm's current production capacity is 6.4 mol (1.5-2 tons) per year, but once the Second Oligo Building becomes operational, annual production capacity will expand to a maximum of 14 mol (over 3.5 tons). This is why sales of oligo, the company's main product, which amounted to about 175 billion KRW last year, are expected to exceed 200 billion KRW this year.
A representative from ST Pharm said, "We are still compiling the first-half sales figures, but they are expected to be similar to the company's estimates," and added, "When the Second Oligo Building begins operation, production capacity will increase, so we will be able to fulfill all the currently ordered quantities."
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