[Featured Stock] NKMAX Rises for 3 Consecutive Days Amid Domestic and International NK Therapy Spotlight

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] NKMAX is on the rise. It appears that the significant spotlight on companies developing NK cell therapies in the immuno-oncology field both domestically and internationally has had an impact.

As of 10:40 AM on the 10th, NKMAX was trading at 16,100 KRW, up 1.26% (200 KRW).

NK cells, called "Natural Killer cells," directly attack and eliminate virus-infected abnormal cells and cancer cells. They have the characteristic of distinguishing between normal and abnormal cells to eradicate cancer cells within the body. The development of NK cell therapies is actively progressing not only in the United States but also domestically.

In the U.S. market, stocks of companies developing NK cell therapies have been rising continuously. Apimed showed an upward trend on the Nasdaq market, increasing by 9.6% from the 7th (local time) to the 9th. This company is receiving global attention for its joint development contract with NKMAX to develop a CAR-NK alternative therapy. Since the announcement of the contract, major securities firms have consistently released reports, sustaining the stock's upward momentum.

The U.S. biotech company Nkarta Inc also surged 21.69% on the 7th, 28.75% on the 8th, and 12.57% on the 9th (local time), closing the market with over a 76% increase over three trading days. The company demonstrated the potential of CAR-NK therapies by presenting preclinical results at last year's American Association for Cancer Research conference.

Fate Therapeutics, which presented interim results of the Phase 1 clinical trial of the NK cell therapy FT596 at ASH (American Society of Hematology), saw a 37.8% surge on the 7th (local time) and closed the market with a 42.45% increase over the last three trading days, recording a market capitalization of 8.2028 trillion KRW. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) invested $100 million in this company last April and announced a joint development of specific types of NK and T cells capable of targeting tumors.

NKMAX is a company developing immune cell cancer therapies using NK cells and holds patented technology capable of producing NK cells in large quantities with high purity. In October, it attracted market attention by signing a joint development plan for an "EGFR-targeted NK immune-oncology drug" with Apimed. This research is progressing smoothly, with a recent successful pre-meeting for the U.S. Phase 1/2a clinical trial.

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