[Asia Economy Reporter Koh Hyung-kwang] The stock price of Baxel Bio has shown signs of short-term overheating, rising more than fourfold in less than two months since its listing. Despite investment warnings and trading suspensions due to the rapid price surge in a short period, the upward trend continues, requiring investors to exercise special caution.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 9th, Baxel Bio was traded at 93,200 KRW on the KOSDAQ market as of 9:40 a.m., up 1.4% from the previous trading day. On the 6th, when it rose 17.8%, it even surpassed the 100,000 KRW mark during the session. Over the past 10 trading days, it recorded the upper price limit twice, rising more than 160%. Compared to the closing price on the first day of listing (21,300 KRW), it has surged by over 330%.
Baxel Bio is a company developing immune cell anticancer drugs similar to Green Cross Cell and Green Cross Lab Cell. It has two core pipelines (new drug development candidates). Both the liver cancer treatment using autologous NK cells (VAX-NK) and the multiple myeloma treatment using autologous dendritic cells (DC) (VAX-DC) are in phase 2 clinical trials.
Recently, the stock price has surged more than three times compared to the public offering price. Baxel Bio's public offering price was set at 30,000 KRW, the lower end of the band (30,000 to 35,000 KRW), after a relatively low subscription competition rate in the institutional demand forecast conducted in early September. The poor competition rate led to a decline in the stock price in the early stages of listing. On the first day of listing on September 22, the opening price started at 27,000 KRW, about 10% lower than the public offering price, and closed the day down 21.1% at 21,300 KRW, marking a harsh debut. Afterward, it hovered in a box range between 21,000 KRW and 24,000 KRW for about a month.
The stock price began to rise after securities firm reports were released at the end of last month. On the 26th of last month, Hanyang Securities published a report titled "A Cell Therapy Development Company on a Different Level" related to Baxel Bio. The main content highlighted that it is a key domestic cell therapy company producing remarkable clinical results. On the day the report was released, the stock surged 28.8%, and except for one day (the 28th of last month, -3.5%), it continued to rise until that day. Although it was designated as an investment warning stock and temporarily suspended from trading, the upward trend has not easily subsided.
Trading volume has also increased explosively. On the 26th and 27th of last month, when the report was published, Baxel Bio's trading volume hovered around 10 million shares. Considering that the previous trading volume was around 800,000 shares, this represents more than a 12-fold increase. Since then, daily trading volume has maintained between 5 million and 8 million shares.
It is also analyzed that the relatively small number of circulating shares compared to the rapidly increased trading volume contributed to the sharp rise in stock price. After the lock-up period was lifted, the number of circulating shares of Baxel Bio is about 5.3 million shares. The trading volume increased to over 10 million shares despite the small number of shares, and with more individual investors continuing to hold shares, a shortage of supply is observed.
However, since the stock price has surged rapidly in the short term and the investment warning designation continues, caution is advised against chasing purchases. A financial investment industry official said, "Clinical expectations and the small number of circulating shares seem to have a significant impact on the stock price," adding, "If negative issues arise, a rapid decline as much as the previous rise could occur, so caution is necessary."
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