"6-Fold Surge in 9 Months"... Alteogen Enters KOSDAQ Top 10

[Asia Economy Reporter Koh Hyung-kwang] The bio company Alteogen is experiencing a sharp rise. Due to expectations of technology exports, its stock price has surged sixfold in the past nine months. Its market capitalization has exceeded 1.7 trillion KRW, entering the top 10 in KOSDAQ market capitalization.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 7th, Alteogen closed at 125,200 KRW on the KOSDAQ market the previous day, up 5.2% from the previous trading day. This is the highest price ever since its listing. Following a 26.3% surge on the 4th, the stock price rose significantly again the next day, setting a new record high for two consecutive days. Compared to the 20,450 KRW low recorded on August 6 last year, the stock price has surged 512% in nine months.

After listing on the KOSDAQ market in December 2014, Alteogen’s stock price hovered between 20,000 and 40,000 KRW before breaking out of the box range in the second half of last year and entering an upward trend. It surpassed 100,000 KRW for the first time earlier this year but took a brief pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic before resuming its upward momentum.

Based on the closing price the previous day, the market capitalization is 1.7522 trillion KRW, ranking 9th in KOSDAQ. The stock price surged rapidly from 20th place at the end of last month, jumping 11 ranks in a short period. It pushed out leading KOSDAQ bio companies such as Hugel (11th) and Genexine (12th), entering the top 10.

Alteogen’s core business is in the bio-better field. Bio-betters refer to drugs that improve efficacy and safety based on original biopharmaceuticals. Alteogen possesses two bio-better technologies: sustained-release technology and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology. Its business model involves developing new bio-betters and licensing the technology to global pharmaceutical companies.

At the end of November last year, Alteogen signed multiple technology transfer contracts, including a technology export deal with a global pharmaceutical company that could yield up to 1.6 trillion KRW in revenue depending on future performance. It is also known to be discussing technology transfers with several global pharmaceutical companies this year. The recent surge in Alteogen’s stock price is interpreted as reflecting these expectations. Foreign and institutional investors have shown interest by net buying Alteogen shares worth 39.2 billion KRW and 4 billion KRW respectively since the beginning of this year.

Lee Dong-geon, a researcher at Shinhan Financial Investment, said, "Considering the value of one potential contract, further stock price increases are possible," adding, "According to Alteogen, more than four technology exports related to Hybrozyme are expected this year, and in this case, even excluding the value of existing businesses, a market capitalization exceeding 2 trillion KRW is achievable."

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