[Click eStock] "Yuhan Yanghang, Milestone Is Just the Beginning"

Hana Financial Investment Issues 'Buy' Rating and Sets Target Price at 70,000 Won... Closing Price on 8th at 46,550 Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Bo-ryeong] It has been analyzed that Yuhan Corporation's milestone is just the beginning.

According to Hana Financial Investment on the 9th, Yuhan Corporation's first-quarter performance is estimated at consolidated sales of 311 billion KRW and operating profit of 6.8 billion KRW. Compared to the previous year, sales decreased by about 10%, while operating profit increased by about 12%.

Yuhan Corporation announced yesterday that it is expected to receive a technology fee of 35 million USD (approximately 43.2 billion KRW) from Janssen for achieving milestone payments in stages for Lazertinib, which was licensed out to Janssen. Minjeong Seon, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, explained, "This is the first stage milestone payment for the development of combination therapy of Lazertinib and Janssen's EGFR/c-MET bispecific antibody (JNJ-372), and about 40% (approximately 17.3 billion KRW) of the received amount will be paid to Oscotec."

A significant portion of the 43.2 billion KRW received as a milestone is expected to be recognized in the second quarter. Researcher Seon analyzed, "This is the case of receiving the largest milestone amount among domestically licensed substances, confirming Janssen's development commitment and expecting steady milestone receipts in the future."

The results of the phase 2 clinical trial for Lazertinib as a second-line treatment, which ended in the first half of last year, are expected to be announced at ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) held from May 29 to June 2. Researcher Seon said, "In addition, the NASH treatment YH25724, licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim in July last year, is expected to receive a milestone payment of about 12 billion KRW from Boehringer Ingelheim upon entering phase 1 clinical trials in the second half of the year. Due to the turnaround of the core business starting in the second quarter and continuous milestone receipts in the second half, Yuhan Corporation's annual operating profit is expected to exceed approximately 73 billion KRW on a consolidated basis."

Hana Financial Investment gave Yuhan Corporation a 'Buy' rating with a target price of 70,000 KRW. The closing price on the 8th was 46,550 KRW.