[Special Stocks] Celltrion Trio Falls for 2 Consecutive Trading Days... Drops 10% in Two Days

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The stock price of Celltrion, which announced the Phase 2 clinical trial results of its novel coronavirus (COVID-19) antibody treatment, has been declining for two consecutive trading days. This is interpreted as a result of profit-taking from the previously surged stock price fueled by high expectations, coupled with analyses from the securities industry suggesting that the issue is unlikely to lead to improved earnings, thereby weakening the stock's upward momentum.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 15th, as of 10:58 a.m., Celltrion's stock price was trading at 336,000 KRW, down 4.68% from the previous trading day. It had also closed down 7.60% the day before, marking a drop of over 10% in two trading days.

Celltrion Healthcare also fell 5.32% to 147,700 KRW on the day, following an 8.19% decline the previous day. Considering the closing price of 169,800 KRW on the 13th, this represents a drop of more than 13%.

Celltrion Pharm traded down 6.66% at 193,300 KRW on the day, and combined with the previous day's 9.84% decline, it has plunged about 15% over two trading days.

On the 13th, Celltrion announced the Phase 2 clinical trial results of its self-developed COVID-19 antibody treatment, 'Rekkironaju (CT-P59)'. The results showed that the time to clinical recovery was shortened by 3.4 days, and the incidence of severe cases among mild patients decreased by 54%.

While the securities industry positively evaluated these results, they forecast that it would be difficult for the results to impact earnings improvement. This is because the domestic market size is small due to the low number of COVID-19 patients in Korea, and Celltrion plans to supply the treatment at cost price, making earnings improvement from treatment sales unlikely. Sun Min-jung, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, stated, "It seems unlikely that domestic commercialization will lead to earnings improvement."