Ahead of Approval Application, Celltrion Issues 'Stock Trading Ban' to Employees

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Celltrion has issued an internal 'stock trading ban' to its employees ahead of the approval application for its COVID-19 antibody treatment.

According to industry sources on the 28th, Celltrion notified its employees via text messages and emails that trading of stocks in the three listed companies of the Celltrion Group (Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare, and Celltrion Pharm) is prohibited until the approval of the COVID-19 antibody treatment.

Celltrion stated, "Due to the development of the COVID treatment, stock trading by company employees can raise social concerns as well as personal legal responsibilities," and added, "All employees and their families are prohibited from trading stocks of the Celltrion Group's listed companies until product approval."

They continued, "Sharing or externally transmitting information obtained related to the COVID treatment is also strictly prohibited, so please be cautious," and added, "If it is unavoidable to trade stocks, please contact the IR department before any transaction."

Recently, it has been confirmed that some executives of the Celltrion Group have disposed of part of their Celltrion shares.

Celltrion announced on the 24th through a public disclosure that eight executives and their relatives sold a total of about 30,000 shares from last month to this month. The company stated that the reasons for the stock sales by employees are personal matters and cannot be disclosed.

Yoo Heon-young, Vice Chairman of Celltrion Holdings, sold a total of 10,000 shares by selling 5,000 shares each on the 9th and 10th of this month on the market. Baek Kyung-min, Director in charge of Drug Safety at Celltrion, sold a total of 7,078 shares on the 12th and 17th of last month.

Lee Sang-yoon, Executive Director of Celltrion's Global Operations Headquarters, sold 4,000 shares each on the 7th and 9th of this month, and Kim Bon-jung, Managing Director of the Chemical Product Development Headquarters, sold 4,000 shares on the 3rd of this month. Kim Geun-young, Outside Director, sold 3,000 shares on the 22nd of this month.

Meanwhile, Celltrion plans to apply for conditional approval of the antibody treatment to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 29th based on the results of Phase 2 clinical trials. If the health authorities approve this, the first domestically produced COVID-19 treatment could be launched as early as the end of January next year.

Celltrion has produced enough quantity since September to treat 100,000 domestic patients so that the treatment can be used immediately in medical settings once conditional approval is granted.

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