According to IBK Investment & Securities on Oct. 27, Jaqbo sales are estimated at 60.2 billion won in the second half, up 73.0% from a year earlier. Operating profit over the same period is expected to reach 13.9 billion won, for an operating margin of 23.1%.
Onconic Therapeutics is a drug developer spun off from Jeil Pharmaceutical. Jaqbo, launched in October 2024, is its first commercialized product and the main driver of earnings growth. In 2025, the year after its launch, Jaqbo posted prescription sales of 48.1 billion won, helping the company swing to an operating profit. Access to the manufacturing and sales infrastructure of Jeil Pharmaceutical and Dong-A ST is another strength. The structure allows both revenue and profitability to improve as prescriptions grow.
Entry into the Chinese market is another growth variable. If the drug wins Chinese approval between the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027 and local sales ramp up, royalty income could be added. The timing of approval and the scale of actual sales, however, may vary depending on local regulatory procedures and commercialization schedules.
While Jaqbo underpins current earnings, nesuparib is the candidate that will determine medium- to long-term corporate value. Nesuparib is an anticancer drug that simultaneously inhibits poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), which is involved in DNA repair in cancer cells, and tankyrase, which regulates cell growth signals. Existing PARP inhibitors show pronounced efficacy in patients with specific gene mutations, but their treatable population is limited and resistance can develop.
To overcome those limitations, Onconic Therapeutics is examining the potential for combining nesuparib with existing cancer therapies. Interim results from a Phase 1b trial in pancreatic cancer showed anticancer effects even in patients outside the main target group for existing PARP inhibitors. If the effects are reproduced in follow-up observations and interim Phase 2 data in the first half of 2027, and the potential to extend survival is confirmed, the candidate's development value could rise. Still, early clinical results alone make it difficult to conclude that the drug will deliver actual therapeutic benefit or commercial success.
OCN-501, an obesity drug candidate, is another pipeline asset to watch. The company plans to unveil the candidate's mechanism of action and preclinical data for the first time in November at ObesityWeek, an academic conference on obesity. The key question is whether it can reduce the muscle loss that occurs during weight loss with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class obesity treatments. As the candidate is still preclinical, its efficacy and safety in humans must be verified through future clinical trials.
IBK Investment & Securities said, "Once Jaqbo establishes itself as a stable cash cow, the sustainability of research and development improves," adding, "If nesuparib's clinical efficacy and OCN-501's differentiation are proven, there is room for the company to reduce its reliance on a single product and be re-rated for its growth potential as a drug developer."
