Minority shareholders of Bukwang Pharmaceutical may have had too much expectation for a Covid-19 treatment candidate that their promotion of the drug candidate went overboard.

Differences in position between the company and minority shareholders over the promotion of Levovir (ingredient: clevudine) have created friction between the two.

On Tuesday, Korea Biomedical Review received a press release about Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s Levovir in a slightly different format compared to those from the company in the past.

The press release said Levovir, an antiviral drug, was drawing attention as a Covid-19 treatment candidate, along with antiviral drugs of multinational drugmakers such as MSD’s Molnupiravir (MK-4482) and Pfizer’s PF-07321332.

The release also said that positive results of the phase 2 trial of Levovir (CLV-203), completed in July, were highly anticipated.

This paper contacted Bukwang Pharmaceutical to confirm the content of the press release. Still, the company said it never released it in the first place.

Bukwang vehemently denied that it has ever distributed any material related to the phase 2 study results of a Covid-19 treatment and said that the company could neither confirm the material nor guarantee its authenticity.

“There is no press release sent from the company on Tuesday. The content of the press release seems to have copied and pasted old press releases,” an official at Bukwang Pharmaceutical said. “We don’t know who sent it, and the company has nothing to do with the material.”

Bukwang is repurposing Levovir, an authorized treatment for chronic hepatitis B, as a Covid-19 drug.

The topline results of the phase 2 study, released in May, showed that Levovir failed to meet the rate of patients turning negative in Covid-19 test results.

The company has completed the phase 2 trial and is deriving clinical results.

Regarding the phase 2 study results, an official at Bukwang said it was confirmed that the company was analyzing data after finishing the CLV-203 trial for mild and moderate Covid-19 patients in July. “It is difficult to say when we will release the results. We will analyze data quickly and discuss the data with related agencies,” he said.

Minority shareholder group unhappy about company’s passive promotion

Then, who sent the press release that promoted Bukwang’s Covid-19 treatment candidate?

Korea Biomedical Review has learned that it was sent by the Bukwang Pharmaceutical Shareholders Association, consisting of about 500 local minority shareholders.

One group member said shareholders frustrated by the company’s passive attitude decided to spend their own money to produce the press release themselves.

Oral antiviral treatments such as Tamiflu are becoming more critical in the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic era. Still, the company seems to have no intention to promote Levovir aggressively, he said.

Bukwang’s shareholders are particularly unhappy because the company told them that it was confident the phase 2 results would be positive.

“In a meeting with shareholders, the company was confident about the study (CLV-203),” the shareholder said.

Unlike in the previous study, the dose was increased. The trial was also for mild patients, which would have reduced the viruses more effectively this time, he said. “The company even said it would seek approval for emergency use,” he added.

Minority shareholders hope that the company could be more active about the promotion of Levovir and expedite discussion with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to release the Covid-19 treatment in the market as soon as possible, he went on to say.

He also complained about the company’s changed attitude, compared to last year when the company tried hard to raise the stock price with the news about Covid-19 treatment development.

“The shareholders’ group has hired a lawyer and is preparing to apply for opening the company’s accounting book,” he said.

Shares of Bukwang Pharmaceutical dropped to a 52-week low to 19,400 won ($16.5) during intra-day trading on Tuesday, going down from the previous record low of 20,100 won on May 4. On Tuesday, Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s stock price closed at 19,450 won, down 4.66 percent from the previous day.