Everest Medicines's licensing partner Calliditas Therapeutics AB ("Calliditas") announced that the U.S. FDA has granted an orphan drug exclusivity period of seven years for Nefecon®, expiring in December 2030 based on Calliditas obtaining full approval with a new indication for this drug product in December 2023. Following full approval in December 2023, Nefecon® is indicated "to reduce the loss of kidney function in adults with primary immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) who are at risk for disease progression". The exclusivity period reflects the new indication covering all adult patients with primary IgAN at risk of disease progression based on a confirmed reduction of kidney loss reflecting a clinical benefit on kidney function for adult patients with primary IgAN.

South Korea'sMinistry of Food and Drug Safety granted Orphan Drug Designation status for Nefecon® in November 2022. Nefecon® is a patented oral, delayed release formulation of budesonide, a corticosteroid with potent glucocorticoid activity and weak mineralocorticoid activity that undergoes substantial first pass metabolism. The formulation is designed as a delayed release capsule that is enteric coated so that it remains intact until it releases budesonide to the distal ileum.

Each capsule contains coated beads of budesonide that target mucosal B-cells present in the ileum where the disease originates, as per the predominant pathogenesis models. In June 2019, Everest Medicines entered into an exclusive, royalty-bearing license agreement with Calliditas, which gives Everest Medicines exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Nefecon® in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore. The agreement was extended in March 2022 to include South Korea as part of Everest Medicine's territories.