[Edaily Reporter Yoo Jin-hee] Jin Yang-gon, Chairman of HLB Group, has demonstrated strong confidence in the group’s future growth potential by consecutively purchasing shares of major affiliates on the open market amid recent market volatility and a sharp decline in biotech stocks. This move is interpreted as a commitment to strengthen responsible management and restore flagging investor sentiment ahead of major new drug approval events scheduled for the second half of the year.

According to HLB Group on the 9th, Chairman Jin recently made significant additional purchases of shares in major group affiliates, including #HLB Genex, #HLB Biostap, #HLB Panagen, #HLB Innovation, and #HLB Therapeutics.

Starting with the purchase of 103,735 shares of HLB Genex on the open market in four separate transactions between the 2nd and 8th, Chairman Jin additionally purchased 37,109 shares of HLB Innovation on the 5th and 8th.

The buying spree across the group’s affiliates continued. After purchasing 67,321 shares of HLB Therapeutics over three days, he bought 25,000 shares of HLB Biostop and 14,562 shares of HLB Panazine on the open market on the 8th.

With this increase in holdings, Chairman Jin’s stock holdings across the group are as follows: △HLB Genex: 719,430 shares △HLB Panazine: 405,373 shares △ 359,013 shares of HLB Therapeutics △ 221,490 shares of HLB Innovation △ 171,706 shares of HLB Biostap.

The market interprets Chairman Jin’s move as a “head-on breakthrough” timed to capitalize on the current downturn in investment sentiment across the biotech sector. Analysts suggest this signals his confidence in the major new drug approvals and clinical trial results scheduled for the second half of the year, regardless of short-term market volatility.

In fact, the HLB Group is poised to announce major global achievements in the second half of this year. In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will decide on the approval of the combination therapy of “riboceranib and camrelizumab,” a candidate drug for liver cancer treatment, and in September, the FDA review results for “lirapugratinib,” a candidate drug for cholangiocarcinoma, will be released. In addition, the results of the global Phase 3 clinical trial (SEER-2) for “RGN-259,” a treatment candidate for neurotrophic keratitis (NK) currently being developed by HLB Therapeutics, are also scheduled to be announced in the second half of the year.

Chairman Jin is accelerating not only stock purchases but also direct communication with investors. Since mid-last month, he has been conducting a “relay investor relations (IR) tour,” visiting the branches of major domestic securities firms in person. Chairman Jin is meeting with private bankers (PBs) and high-net-worth individuals on-site to personally brief them on the competitiveness of the group’s core pipeline and its future vision. This is an aggressive move to boost the stock price, based on the assessment that the current stock price does not reflect the group’s intrinsic value.

An HLB Group official stated, “Chairman Jin’s consecutive purchases of affiliate stocks demonstrate his confidence in the group’s growth potential and corporate value to the market,” adding, “We will continue to do our utmost to ensure that our corporate value is fairly evaluated based on the performance of our core pipeline.”