ST Pharm Co. Ltd., an API CDMO in the Republic of Korea, plans to build a second oligonucleotide manufacturing plant to expand production facilities and to accommodate the rapidly growing oligonucleotide therapeutics market.
 
ST Pharm will invest $126 million thru 2025 at its Banwol campus located in Ansan, with the construction of the second oligonucleotide plant with four to six large production lines.
 
The second oligonucleotide manufacturing plant will be designed to maximize efficiency by shortening the production period through a parallel cross-production process design. The company will also be installing a solvent recycling system for cost reduction and to make an eco-friendly manufacturing process.
 
In 2018, ST Pharm established its first oligonucleotide plant at Banwol campus with a production capacity of 1.5 mole per year. In 2020, the plant underwent further capacity expansion and when completed, ST Pharm will have a production capacity of 6.4 mole per year.
 
The establishment of the second oligonucleotide plant will provide a production capacity of 14 mole per year, which places ST Pharm among the world’s largest CDMOs in oligonucleotide production in 2025, in terms of capacity.
 
Research & Market expects a rapid growth in oligonucleotide therapeutics market from $7.15 billion in 2021 to $18.8 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 21.4 %. (Reference: Research and Markets, 2021, Oligonucleotide Synthesis Market Research Report).
 
Beginning with the FDA approval of Novartis’ inclisiran for hyperlipidemia treatment, the demand for raw materials and APIs is expected to grow if new oligonucleotide drugs are approved for commercialization beginning in 2024. This includes Pelacarsen (Novartis), Vupanorsen (Pfizer), Olezarsen (Ionis) for cardiovascular diseases and Zilebesiran (Alnylam) for adults with hypertension and JNJ-3989 (Janssen) for chronic HBV.