[Click eStock] "Yuhan Yanghaeng, Momentum from Clinical Results in the First Half"

Meritz Securities diagnosed on the 17th that Yuhan Corporation's stock price is highly likely to rise based on the momentum from the first half clinical trial results.

Junyoung Kim, a researcher at Meritz Securities, stated in a report on the same day, “Yuhan Corporation's consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of last year were 490.4 billion KRW, a 12.2% increase compared to the same period last year, but a 18.1% decrease compared to the previous quarter,” adding, “Operating profit is expected to be 22.3 billion KRW, a 274.1% increase year-on-year, but a 53.2% decrease quarter-on-quarter, falling short of market consensus by 27.3%.”

Researcher Kim analyzed, “The prolonged medical strike continues to negatively impact sales growth, causing a slowdown in pharmaceutical business sales growth,” and “For the overseas division, sales of Gilead API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) are expected to reflect an annual growth of 100%, but operating profit will fall short of consensus due to increased R&D expenses in the fourth quarter.”

Yuhan Corporation conservatively expects to receive a $30 million milestone payment in the second quarter of this year following European approval. Although detailed data of the highly anticipated MARIPOSA has not yet been disclosed, the final results are expected to be announced at major conferences such as ELCC (March 26-29) or ASCO (May 30-June 3).

While the OS results of the competing therapy FLAURA2 have not been updated, based on Asian patient data revealed at ESMO Asia 2024, the degree of OS improvement in the global patient group is expected to be similar to or less than the MARIPOSA OS improvement.

Researcher Kim said, “Expecting positive MARIPOSA results, we are raising the market share forecast from the previous 40% to 60% and increasing the target stock price to 220,000 KRW,” adding, “Additionally, various clinical momentums such as the expected disclosure of the phase 1b clinical trial results of the allergy new drug YH35324 in the first half of the year will positively influence the stock price rise.”