COVID-19 Related Stocks, From Diagnostic Kit Stocks to Vaccine Stocks

CTCBio Hits Upper Limit... Celltrion and GC녹십자 Also on the Rise

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Interest in stocks related to novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) diagnostic kits is shifting to therapeutics.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 7th, CTC Bio hit the upper price limit and rose to 8,060 won the previous day. This is interpreted as a result of applying for export approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to supply finished chloroquine, a drug recently used to treat COVID-19. Chloroquine, known as a malaria treatment drug, has been reported to be effective in treating COVID-19, leading to a global surge in demand. Currently, with India, which supplies chloroquine raw materials worldwide, imposing export bans making raw material procurement difficult, CTC Bio has signed contracts with raw material suppliers.

Celltrion and GC Green Cross, which have officially entered the development of COVID-19 therapeutics, are also on the rise. Celltrion is developing an antibody therapeutic, and GC Green Cross is developing a plasma therapeutic for COVID-19 treatment. Both stocks have surged 22% and 35%, respectively, since last month. Celltrion, following its selection for a national project to discover therapeutic monoclonal antibody preclinical candidates, is collaborating with the government agency Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency aiming for clinical trials in July.

Stocks related to antiparasitic drugs are also attracting attention. An Australian research team released cell culture experiment results showing that the antiparasitic drug 'Ivermectin' suppresses the virus within 48 hours when used for COVID-19 treatment. Related stocks such as Shinpung Pharmaceutical (29.77%), Jin Biotech (29.85%), Aliko Pharmaceutical (29.65%), Myungmoon Pharmaceutical (15.38%), Joa Pharmaceutical (12.33%), and Hwail Pharmaceutical (4.5%) all recorded gains.

So far, diagnostic kit-related stocks such as Seegene, LabGenomics, and Sugentech have shown remarkable gains in the stock market. Since COVID-19 began spreading in earnest on January 20, Seegene surged about 203% until the previous day, and LabGenomics (350%), Sugentech (442%), and Access Bio (145%) also rose sharply. However, after the short-term surge, profit-taking sales began to appear, somewhat reducing the upward momentum of these stocks.

In the securities industry, investment in short-term surge theme stocks requires caution, but companies that can enhance their capabilities through exports related to COVID-19 are viewed positively. Minjung Sun, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, explained, "Despite the market crash, the rise of theme stocks related to COVID-19 is remarkable, but theme stocks that emerge during infectious disease outbreaks will not remain mere theme stocks," adding, "Looking beyond the COVID-19 crisis, the value of companies could be upgraded one level after the situation stabilizes."