[Featured Stock] Olix Plummets on News of Technology Return from Thea

New drug development company Olix plummeted on the 24th following news of technology return.

As of 9:20 a.m. on the same day, Olix was trading at 9,070 KRW on the KOSDAQ market, down 2,490 KRW (21.54%) from the previous session.

The trading volume was about 240,000 shares, with a trading value of approximately 2.1 billion KRW. The stock price hit a new low during the session, dropping to as low as 8,280 KRW.

In general, technology returns are considered negative news in the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industries.

Before the market opened on the same day, Olix announced that it had regained rights to the dry and wet macular degeneration treatment candidate 'OLX301A' and the wet macular degeneration and subretinal fibrosis treatment candidate 'OLX301D,' which had been licensed to the French ophthalmology specialist company 'Thea Open Innovation.' Olix had licensed OLX301A to Thea in 2019 and signed an extension contract for OLX301A and a licensing contract for OLX301D in 2020.

Olix stated that the termination of the contract was due to Thea's business strategy and that there is no obligation to return the already received upfront payments and milestone payments after the rights were returned. Currently, OLX301A is undergoing Phase 1 clinical trials after receiving Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2022, and OLX301D is in preclinical research. Olix is reportedly planning to proceed with the development of these treatments independently in the future.