Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare Stocks Soar Ahead of Merger

Expectations for Merger Boost US Market Share Expansion
Merger Increases KOSPI 200 Weight, Raising Hopes for Passive Fund Inflows

The stock prices of Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare, which are merging at the end of this month, have been on a strong upward trend for consecutive days. The anticipation of the merger, combined with positive news from overseas, is fueling the rise in stock prices.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 13th, Celltrion closed the day at 183,400 KRW, up 3.21% from the previous day, marking a three-day consecutive rise. This is the first time this year that Celltrion's stock price has surpassed the 180,000 KRW mark at closing. Notably, during the trading session, it rose to 184,900 KRW, setting a 52-week high. Over the past three days, it has increased by more than 16%. Celltrion Healthcare also rose for three consecutive days, regaining the 80,000 KRW level. This is the first time this year that Celltrion Healthcare's stock price has exceeded 80,000 KRW at closing. Although Celltrion Healthcare recorded a 52-week high of 81,400 KRW during trading on April 13, it had not surpassed 80,000 KRW at closing until now.

Celltrion Healthcare's metastatic colorectal and breast cancer treatment drug, 'Vegzelma,' showed strong stock performance following news that it was listed as a preferred drug in the prescription formulary of Ventegra, a major Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) in the United States. Ventegra is one of the leading PBMs in the U.S., responsible not only for prescription drugs but also for reimbursement of drugs administered directly by healthcare professionals. This listing is expected to solidify Vegzelma's position in the U.S. market by covering Ventegra's 13 million subscribers.

In September, Celltrion Healthcare had already listed 'Uplima' as a preferred drug in Ventegra's public and private insurance formularies, and now, about two months later, Vegzelma has been added. Additionally, in February next year, 'Jimpentra' (the U.S. product name for Remsima SC) is scheduled to be launched four months after receiving FDA approval for new drug sales. This is expected to further strengthen Celltrion's recognition in the U.S. Lee Hee-young, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "Sales growth is expected next year as three new products?Jimpentra, Uplima, and Vegzelma?are officially launched in the U.S. All three products have already been launched in Europe, and based on real prescription data, they are expected to rapidly expand their market share in the U.S."

The anticipation of the merger scheduled for the end of this month is also seen as a driving force behind the stock price increases of the two companies. The merger date for Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare is set for the 28th, and the merged Celltrion is expected to be listed on January 12 next year. The expected benefits of the merger include enhanced transparency and the potential for large-scale investments. Researcher Lee Hee-young explained, "The expected benefits of the merger can be divided into enhancing transparency through simplification of the transaction structure, securing cost competitiveness through improved cost ratios, and large-scale investments utilizing integrated resources after the merger. Celltrion has presented a vision to become a global new drug development company by 2030 after the merger, and by utilizing integrated resources, it plans to expand its biosimilar pipeline, secure new drug pipelines, ensure supply stability through additional facility expansion, and secure new growth engines such as digital healthcare."

The merger is also expected to increase the companies' weighting within the KOSPI 200, leading to passive fund inflows. The Korea Exchange plans to reflect the new shares from the Celltrion merger in the index on the 15th. Kang Song-chul, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, said, "With the listing of the new shares, the number of Celltrion shares will increase from the existing 146,402,770 shares to 220,295,210 shares. If the stock price remains the same, the market capitalization will increase by about 50% due to the increase in the number of shares. This increase in market capitalization will raise Celltrion's weighting in the KOSPI 200 from 1.52% (as of the 12th) to 2.48%, which could lead to passive fund inflows."

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