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[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Samsung Biologics is once again aiming to become a "Hwangjejeu" (large-cap stock priced over 1 million KRW per share). Recently, with various favorable contract news coinciding, foreign buying interest has increased, raising expectations for a rise in stock price.

As of 10:45 AM on the 17th, Samsung Biologics' stock price recorded 951,000 KRW, down 0.73% from the previous day. In the early trading session, it rose to 967,000 KRW. This is the highest level since August 25, when it recorded 971,000 KRW. The closing price on the previous day was 958,000 KRW, marking the highest closing price in three months since September 1. There is growing anticipation that it could regain its "Hwangjejeu" status since August 24.

On the day of the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the year, when uncertainties were somewhat resolved, foreign investors' funds also flowed in massively. Samsung Biologics ranked second among all stocks in net foreign purchases with a total net buying of 121.9 billion KRW. It is the first time in about 11 months since January 27 that foreign investors have net purchased over 100 billion KRW of Samsung Biologics in a single day. At that time, Samsung Biologics had signed a contract for contract development and manufacturing (CDO) with the National Cancer New Drug Development Project Group (NOV), and Eutilex received FDA approval for clinical phase 1 and 2 trial plans for the immuno-oncology candidate substance (‘EU101 (NOV1801)’). Additionally, the company reported a "surprise performance" in the fourth quarter of last year, which acted as a positive factor.

Recent trends seem to have been positively influenced by the news that Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, produced under a CDO contract with Samsung Biologics, received product approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). Earlier, on the 14th, Samsung Biologics announced that Moderna's messenger ribohexan (mRNA) vaccine "Spikevax," which it is contract manufacturing, received product approval from the MFDS the previous day. Along with this, news was also released about a contract to manufacture AstraZeneca's (AZ) long-acting COVID-19 antibody combination drug "Evusheld (AZD7442)" worth approximately 450 billion KRW under a contract manufacturing agreement.