[Special Stock] MedPacto Rises on Expectations for Becotide Reevaluation

MedPacto, an innovative new drug developer, is showing strong performance. The news that Mirae Asset Securities has positively evaluated MedPacto's pipeline development strategy appears to be influencing the company's stock price. It was analyzed that attention should be paid to the possibility of reevaluating the anticancer drug candidate 'Becotide' as well as to new anticancer drugs.

As of 1:30 p.m. on August 4, MedPacto was trading at 4,080 KRW, up 5.97% from the previous trading day.

Kim Seungmin, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, stated, "The efficacy and safety of Becotide have been largely demonstrated through various clinical trials," and added, "If its efficacy is proven or if it receives approval through osteosarcoma clinical trials, the clinical and business value of the existing combination therapy will be reevaluated."

He further commented, "As competition in bispecific antibody development seeks differentiation through combination therapies, it is worth watching whether the TGF-beta inhibitor Becotide will also be expanded into a triple combination therapy with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy and VEGF inhibitors."

Regarding the new immuno-oncology candidate 'MP010', researcher Kim evaluated it as "an anticancer drug candidate targeting the extracellular matrix (ECM), one of the components of the tumor microenvironment, with the potential to enter the global leading group."

'MP010' is a bispecific fusion protein targeting TGF-beta and EDB-FN. It targets EDB-FN, which is overexpressed in the ECM, breaks down barriers, penetrates the tumor microenvironment (TME), and inhibits (traps) TGF-beta to induce cancer cell death through immune responses. The company aims to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application in the first half of next year.

Researcher Kim observed that, "Mechanistically, the most similar competing substance to 'MP010' is Agenus's 'AGEN-1721', which is also in the preclinical stage. In the future, these could form a major competitive landscape in the ECM-based dual-function anticancer drug market."