[Special Stock] PHC Rises on Conditional Approval of Rapid Antigen Test Kit and Resumption of US Exports

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] PHC is showing strong performance. It appears to be influenced by the simultaneous rise of COVID-19 diagnostic kit-related stocks such as Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical and Humasis.

As of 11:23 AM on the 3rd, PHC is trading at 2,050 KRW, up 18.5% compared to the previous trading day.

Recently, PHC's affiliate PhiloSys obtained conditional domestic manufacturing approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) rapid antigen diagnostic kit ‘Gmate Covid-19 Ag’. The approved product uses a rapid diagnostic method and is currently in use in many overseas countries including Malaysia.

PHC has acquired rapid diagnostic kit approvals in multiple countries such as Thailand, Germany, and Russia. It is expanding its sales channels in overseas markets.

A PHC representative stated, "Conditional approval is equivalent to domestic approval," adding, "The GMP certificate only needs to be submitted by 2024." They further explained, "The existing blood glucose meter and rapid diagnostic kit are both class 3 medical devices, and we hold multiple overseas approvals, so we expect a smooth completion."

In addition to rapid antigen diagnostic kits, PHC is releasing various COVID-19 diagnostic product lines, including neutralizing antibody diagnostic kits that can determine whether antibodies have been generated after COVID-19 infection.

Recently, amid the rapidly increasing risk of the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant domestically, the government and local governments have decided to utilize rapid diagnostic kits. Health insurance coverage for rapid antigen tests at clinics and hospitals is also under review. Due to the spread of Omicron, the COVID-19 diagnostic testing method has shifted from being PCR-centered to expanding rapid antigen testing.

PHC also supplies COVID-19 specimen collection kits (Universal Transport Media) to the United States. It has agreed to supply through H&Dream, a medical device distribution specialist company, and CareCamp, a subsidiary of GeoYoung, the largest pharmaceutical distributor in Korea. The supply period is until March 29.

A company official said, "Due to the recent spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant and increased testing demand in the U.S., some export contracts that were inevitably suspended last August due to market conditions have been able to resume." They added, "With the recent spread of the Omicron variant, global demand for specimen collection kits is increasing, and follow-up supply contracts are expected to continue."

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