[Click eStock] "SK바사, COVID-19 Vaccine GBP510 Expected... Target Price Maintained"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Myunghwan] Hana Financial Investment announced on the 2nd that it maintains a buy rating and a target price of 180,000 KRW for SK Bioscience. This is due to the expectation of expanded use of its self-developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate 'GBP510', despite first-quarter results falling short of expectations.

SK Bioscience's consolidated sales for the first quarter of this year were 87.1 billion KRW, down 22.7% year-on-year, and operating profit was 23.8 billion KRW, down 55.8%. These results were lower than market forecasts of 114 billion KRW in sales and 53.7 billion KRW in operating profit. Hana Financial Investment analyzed that the main reason was the delay in quality assurance (QA) for contract manufacturing (CMO) volumes for Novavax in the U.S., which began in the fourth quarter of last year. The company expects this year's sales to increase by 27.8% from last year to 1.1876 trillion KRW, while operating profit is forecast to decrease by 1.2% to 468.4 billion KRW.

Hana Financial Investment's analysis indicates that the clinical results of GBP510, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, are positive. GBP510 showed neutralizing antibody levels approximately 2.9 times higher than the comparator vaccine AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria, and an antibody conversion rate of 98% two weeks after the second dose administered four weeks apart. On the 29th of last month, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) completed the application for product approval of GBP510, and domestic approval could be granted as early as the first half of this year. The phase 3 clinical trial for the homologous booster (third dose) of GBP510 received domestic preclinical trial plan (IND) approval on the 21st of last month, and the global IND approval application is expected to be completed within the first half of the year.

Jae-kyung Park, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, "The gradual expansion of GBP510 use is expected depending on the booster shot clinical results," adding, "Domestic sales of GBP510, sales through the COVAX Facility, performance improvement in the second half of the year, individual country supply contracts for GBP510, and new business expansion are key points to watch this year."

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