[Featured Stock] SK Chemicals Hits Upper Limit on COVID-19 Vaccine Contract Manufacturing Deal

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] SK Chemicals recorded a limit-up. This was due to its subsidiary signing a contract with the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the consignment production of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.

At 9:28 a.m. on the 28th, SK Chemicals traded at 232,000 KRW, up 29.97% (limit-up) on the KOSPI market.

The previous day, SK Chemicals announced that SK Bioscience, in which it holds a 98% stake, had signed a consignment production contract with AstraZeneca for the COVID-19 vaccine candidate ‘ADZ1222’. According to the industry, ADZ1222 is the fastest developing pipeline among COVID-19 vaccines. The products expected to be available for sale by the end of this year or early next year are those from the American pharmaceutical company Moderna and AstraZeneca.

Researcher Koo Wan-sung of NH Investment & Securities explained, "Since they have signed the first vaccine CMO contract with AstraZeneca, additional contracts are also expected," adding, "The value of the next-generation pneumococcal vaccine, which is in joint clinical trials with Sanofi, is also increasing, and strong performance is expected in the second quarter."

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