[Featured Stock] Cellmat Therapeutics Rises on Expectations for COVID-19 Plasma Treatment Equipment Production

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] As news spreads that plasma therapy is effective against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the stock price of Cellmat Therapeutics, which holds plasma therapy-related technology as well as affiliates expected to produce related equipment, is also showing strong performance.

As of 2:20 PM on the 8th, Cellmat Therapeutics' stock price is trading at 6,680 KRW, up 14.6% from the previous day. This follows reports that the Russian unlisted company 'NBT CJSC,' in which Cellmat Therapeutics has secured shares, is expected to benefit from a healthcare program promoted at the national level in Russia. This program includes the production of 2,700 plasma cascade filtration devices that can be used for plasma therapy and 420,000 disposable plasma filters. This suggests the possibility of producing plasma therapy equipment.

Meanwhile, quarantine authorities have announced that they will finalize COVID-19 plasma therapy guidelines within a few days. With the confirmed effectiveness of plasma therapy, there are plans to utilize it as a full-fledged treatment method. The day before, a research paper by Professors Junyong Choi and Shinyoung Kim’s team at Yonsei University Severance Hospital was published in the international academic journal ‘JKMS,’ reporting that plasma therapy was greatly helpful for two patients who developed severe pneumonia accompanied by acute respiratory distress syndrome due to COVID-19 infection. Among the two patients?a woman in her 60s and a man in his 70s?one has been declared fully recovered and has already been discharged.

Accordingly, companies known to possess plasma therapy-related technology, such as SMAC and Lemon, are also on the rise. At the same time, SMAC is up 22.3% and Lemon is up 16.6%.