ST Pharm Expands Contract Development and Manufacturing Facilities for Oligonucleotide Therapeutics

ST Pharm English CI (Photo by ST Pharm)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] ST Pharm dreams of becoming a world-leading oligonucleotide therapeutic contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) through factory construction and expansion of production facilities.

ST Pharm announced on the 24th that it will build a second oligo building (the second oligonucleotide therapeutic raw material factory) and expand production facilities to secure a leading position in the rapidly growing oligonucleotide therapeutic market. ST Pharm plans to invest a total of 150 billion KRW, including 80 billion KRW in the first phase by the third quarter of 2024 and 70 billion KRW in the second phase by the end of 2025, to construct a 5-6 story second oligo building on the Banwol factory site in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, and add 4-6 large production lines.

The second oligo building is designed to maximize efficiency by shortening production time through parallel cross-production on multiple independent integrated production lines. It will also be equipped with devices to recover and recycle organic solvents, making it a cost-saving and environmentally friendly facility.

Previously, in 2018, ST Pharm constructed a 4-story first oligo building on the Banwol factory site and expanded facilities on the second floor to produce 250-750 kg (1.5 mole/day) of oligonucleotide therapeutic raw materials annually. Last year, in August and October, it decided to further expand the third and fourth floors of the first oligo building. Upon completion of the expansion in the second half of next year, production capacity will increase from a maximum of 300-900 kg (1.8 mole/day) to 1.1-3.2 tons (6.4 mole/day). When the second oligo building is completed by the end of 2025, production capacity will increase approximately 7.7 times compared to the current level, reaching 2.3-7 tons (14 mole/day) annually.

According to Research and Markets data, the oligonucleotide therapeutic market is expected to grow rapidly at an average annual rate of 21.4%, from $7.15 billion (approximately 8.4835 trillion KRW) this year to $18.87 billion (approximately 22.3893 trillion KRW) by 2026. Novartis’s hyperlipidemia treatment 'Inclisiran' is expected to receive FDA approval by the end of this year in the U.S., and with blockbuster oligonucleotide therapeutic new drugs being commercialized one after another starting with this, demand for oligonucleotide therapeutic raw materials is expected to surge.

An ST Pharm official said, "The construction of the second oligo building and expansion of production facilities are in preparation for the commercialization of multiple chronic disease oligonucleotide therapeutic new drug pipelines supplied by ST Pharm after 2024. This proactive expansion ahead of competitors is expected to be advantageous for new orders. We will leverage the capabilities of the global number one oligo CDMO to grow into a global top 5 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and various next-generation ribonucleic acid (RNA) gene therapy CDMO company."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.