[NA Eun-kyung, Edaily Reporter] MGEN Solutions, whose shares began rallying before it disclosed a change in management control, and BLUEMTEC, which jumped nearly 12% without any apparent new catalyst, drew market attention on Tuesday. Ilyang Pharm, meanwhile, traded largely flat despite announcing the termination of a license-out agreement in Russia.

According to KG Zeroin’s MP Doctor (formerly MarketPoint), MGEN Solutions and BLUEMTEC rose 13.19% and 11.88%, respectively, on September 9. Ilyang Pharm gained 0.24%.

MGEN Solutions rallies ahead of a $5 million capital injection

MGEN Solutions closed at 1,631 won, up 13.19% from the previous session, marking its highest level in about three months since a trading suspension related to a reverse stock split was lifted on May 26.

The stock had remained in the 900-won range through mid-August before beginning to climb on August 27. It surged more than 17% on September 7 and posted another double-digit gain on Tuesday.

The company did not disclose the change in control until 6:48 p.m., after the market closed.

Under the deal, the current largest shareholder will sell its stake to Jizentech Investment Association for approximately 4 billion won ($2.9 million). MGEN Solutions will also conduct a 7 billion won third-party share placement, including a 5 billion won investment from Jizentech.

The sharp rise in the stock price several days before the disclosure warrants attention.

Jizentech Investment Association, however, was established only this month and has assets of just 509 million won. The disclosure did not specify how it plans to finance the roughly 9 billion won needed to acquire the existing shares and subscribe to the new shares, leaving uncertainty over whether the payments will be completed as planned.

Jizentech, which formed the investment association, is a manufacturer of basic organic chemicals established in 2023. Its business involves the low-temperature pyrolysis of waste plastics to convert them into energy and petrochemical feedstocks.

MGEN Solutions traces its roots to Daeshin Electric Wire, an electronic components manufacturer founded in 1973. The company listed on the KOSDAQ market in 1997 and entered the biotechnology business in 2012 by merging with Mgen, a company specializing in xenotransplantation research.

In 2003, Mgen produced South Korea’s first transgenic cloned pig, named “Hyungkwangi,” and conducted research aimed at transplanting porcine pancreatic islets and corneas into humans.

However, the company shut down its xenotransplantation business in September 2024 after new government-funded research projects were discontinued and research expenses became burdensome. It also closed its pig breeding research facility in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

MGEN Solutions is now developing a xenogeneic tissue-derived meniscus implant at its tissue engineering research center in Osong, North Chungcheong Province.

“Our existing businesses will continue, and development of the meniscus implant will not be discontinued,” a MGEN Solutions official said. “Once new management is appointed at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in October, the new largest shareholder’s business could be added to our existing operations.”

BLUEMTEC rebounds 12% without a clear catalyst

BLUEMTEC closed at 2,260 won, up 11.88%. With no new regulatory filings or contract announcements, the rally was widely seen as bargain hunting following a recent decline.

“We have not identified any specific reason within the company for the share-price increase,” a BLUEMTEC official said. “The stock had fallen sharply amid recent weakness in the KOSDAQ market and shifts in supply and demand, so we believe it recovered part of those losses.”

Improving earnings could provide support for the stock going forward.

BLUEMTEC reported consolidated second-quarter revenue of 54.97 billion won, up 20.3% from a year earlier. It posted an operating profit of 182 million won, compared to an operating loss of 800 million won a year earlier.

Expanded distribution of obesity treatments, including Wegovy and Mounjaro, drove revenue growth.

The second half of the year is typically peak season for BLUEMTEC, as vaccine distribution is concentrated during this period, boosting both sales and profits.

The company suffered losses last year due to an imbalance between supply and demand for influenza vaccines. This year, however, demand is outpacing supply, easing inventory burdens and price competition, according to the company.

“We also have a positive outlook for the business environment in the second half,” a company official said. “We expect to return to profitability for the full year.”

Ilyang Pharm Steady Despite End of Russia Deal

Ilyang Pharm showed little reaction to the termination of its license-out and supply agreement with Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm for the leukemia drug Supect. The stock closed at 8,260 won, up 0.24% from the previous session.

The muted response suggests investors had already assigned little economic value to the agreement.

Since the deal was signed in 2014, Supect has not received marketing approval in Russia, and no product has been supplied to the country. The contract extension in 2025 was automatic under the terms of the original agreement.

The disclosed contract value, including an upfront payment and milestones, totaled 14.5 billion won, but Ilyang Pharm actually received only $1 million.

R-Pharm, which was responsible for obtaining local regulatory approval, did not conduct an additional clinical trial in Caucasian patients as requested by Russian authorities and informed Ilyang Pharm in June 2024 that it intended to discontinue the project.

R-Pharm founder Alexey Repik sold his stake in the company and its overseas business subsidiaries in 2022—the year Russia invaded Ukraine—and stepped down from management. He was placed under sanctions by the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions the following year.

The war and sanctions have also disrupted logistics and patient recruitment for multinational clinical trials involving Russia.

Only eight new international multicenter clinical trials were approved in Russia in the first half of 2024, down 94.3% from the average for the same periods from 2017 through 2021.

However, Supect’s development in Russia had already made little progress for years prior to the war. No product sales were ever recorded, meaning the termination does not result in a new financial loss for Ilyang Pharm.

Rather than representing a fresh setback, the announcement effectively formalizes the end of a project that had already been dormant.

Ilyang Pharm plans to focus on China instead.

“Supect’s clinical development in China is nearly complete, and we are currently preparing to file for marketing approval,” an Ilyang Pharm official said. “There has been no change so far in our existing target of securing approval within this year.”

The company has stated in annual reports and other filings since 2023 that it completed a Phase 3 trial in China, but it has yet to submit an application for marketing approval.

According to estimates from the Chinese securities industry, the country’s market for BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) was valued at approximately 4 billion yuan ($560 million) in 2023.

First-line treatments include imatinib, nilotinib, and the Chinese-developed flumatinib, while subsequent therapies such as dasatinib and olverembatinib—which targets patients with the T315I mutation—are also available.

Flumatinib alone is estimated to have generated about 1 billion yuan in sales in 2023.

Even if Supect is approved in China, Ilyang Pharm will need to leverage competitive pricing and clinical data to win prescriptions over established treatments.