SK Bioscience's 'Ttasang' Success... When Will Donghak Ants Sell?

On the 18th, at the Korea Exchange in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Ahn Jae-yong, CEO of SK Bioscience, a vaccine development and manufacturing company, received the listing contract and listing plaque from Sohn Byung-doo, Chairman of the Korea Exchange, at the KOSPI new listing ceremony of SK Bioscience. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] SK Bioscience, the first major IPO of the year, recorded a ‘ttasang’ (opening at twice the IPO price and then hitting the upper price limit) immediately after its KOSPI listing on the 18th, drawing attention to its future stock price.

On the day, SK Bioscience’s opening price was 130,000 KRW, twice the IPO price of 65,000 KRW, and it immediately hit the upper limit (30%) after the market opened, trading at 169,000 KRW. Its market capitalization surged to 12.9285 trillion KRW, securing the 28th position in the KOSPI market cap rankings.

The company’s ‘ttasang’ was anticipated due to record-breaking demand from the book-building and subscription stages. During the public subscription on the 9th and 10th, subscription deposits reached a historic high of 63 trillion KRW, and the institutional demand forecast competition rate was 1,275.47 to 1.

The market’s focus is now on the future direction of the stock price. Last year’s IPO big three?SK Biopharm, Kakao Games, and Big Hit?all succeeded in ‘ttasang’ amid subscription frenzy, but their stock prices diverged after listing. SK Biopharm achieved ‘ttasangssangssang’ (three consecutive upper limits), Kakao Games had ‘ttasangssang’ (two consecutive upper limits), while Big Hit hit ‘ttasang’ on the first day but immediately turned downward.

Investment experts expect SK Bioscience’s stock price momentum to be strong, as it is the only domestic COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer and has its own vaccine development pipeline. SK Bioscience is a vaccine development and production partner selected by COVAX, the WHO’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement consortium. It undertakes contract manufacturing (CMO) of COVID-19 vaccines developed by global pharmaceutical companies, supplying 40 million doses of ‘Novavax’ domestically, developed by AstraZeneca. Novavax sales are expected to begin in earnest in the second half of this year.

Meritz Securities projected SK Bioscience’s CMO and CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) business revenue at 496.9 billion KRW this year and about 739.5 billion KRW next year. Researcher Kim Ji-ha of Meritz Securities said, “Given the severe global vaccine supply shortage, if export volumes match domestic supply, earnings could far exceed expectations. With the KOSPI 200 inclusion issue after listing and the announcement of phase 1 results of its own COVID-19 vaccine, there are abundant momentum factors, so we expect significant upside in the stock price post-listing.”

SK Bioscience is developing two proprietary COVID-19 vaccines (NBP2001, GBP510), currently in phase 1 and phase 1/2 clinical trials. It plans to conduct a global phase 3 trial for one product this year, with phase 1 results expected to be announced in the first half. Additionally, it has signed a joint development agreement with Sanofi for next-generation pneumococcal vaccines, currently in global phase 2 trials, and a quadrivalent cervical cancer vaccine is in phase 1/2 trials. This indicates a robust new drug pipeline that can drive the stock price of a biopharmaceutical company. Researcher Han Byung-hwa of Eugene Investment & Securities said, “The global pneumococcal vaccine market is about 7 trillion KRW, and since they are developing a treatment more effective than Pfizer, which holds an 80% market share, commercialization could become the largest revenue source after 2025.”

SK Bioscience’s high ratio of mandatory lock-up shares and low circulating volume also support expectations of a continued stock price rally. The company’s circulating shares account for about 11%. Institutional investors have agreed not to sell allocated shares for a certain period after listing, with SK Bioscience’s lock-up ratio at 59.92%. Of the 12,622,500 shares allocated to institutions, 10,762,090 shares (85.26%) are under mandatory lock-up, higher than Big Hit (78.37%), Kakao Games (72.57%), and SK Biopharm (52.25%). Among all mandatory lock-up shares, the 6-month lock-up ratio (31.3%) is the highest, followed by 3 months (26.4%) and 1 month (24.7%).

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