[Seungkwon Kim, Edaily Reporter] Korean pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare stocks linked to drug commercialization and licensing prospects rallied on September 30.

Helixmith rose nearly 20% on expectations of royalties from its Chinese partner’s gene therapy launch. Genome & Company posted a double-digit gain as licensing hopes built ahead of a global antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) conference next month. SG Healthcare climbed 13% after securing exclusive Korean rights from a Chinese particle therapy company. All three stocks had fallen sharply over the past year.

Helixmith: Sedomingji’s Launch in China Brings Royalties into View

According to KG Zeroin, Helixmith closed up 18.85% (605 won) at 3,815 won, after reaching 4,170 won during the trading session.

The stock has been volatile over the past year. It traded in the 8,000-won range this spring on expectations of Chinese approval, reaching a 52-week high of 9,960 won. However, after approval was granted in May, profit-taking and doubts about an early market entry pushed the price down to the 2,700-won range.

Tuesday’s rebound reflected renewed hopes for actual royalty cash flow as Chinese partner Northland Biotech commercializes Sedomingji Injection (NL003), a treatment for critical limb ischemia. Based on Helixmith’s gene therapy Engensis (VM202), it received approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration in May as the country’s first plasmid DNA-based gene therapy. Northland officially announced the commercial launch at the China Cell and Gene Therapy Conference (CSGCT 2026) in Beijing this month.

The launch comes 22 years after the 2004 technology transfer. Helixmith will receive the greater of 7% of net sales or 4% of gross sales annually for seven years following the launch. Its financial position has also improved: after Bio Solution became the largest shareholder in late 2023, restructuring reduced its net loss from 64.1 billion won in 2023 to about 300 million won last year, and the company now holds about 80 billion won in cash and cash equivalents.

The key lies in market adoption in China. Northland’s shares plunged 25% on the day of approval amid concerns over out-of-pocket sales and hospital access. An industry source said whether the approval is reflected in the company’s value depends on insurance coverage, prescription expansion, and early sales. Northland is seeking inclusion on China’s national reimbursement drug list.

A Helixmith official said the company plans “to pursue technology transfers, co-development, and strategic alliances in global markets beyond China.”

Genome & Company Aims for Licensing Deals Ahead of World ADC

Genome & Company rose 13.59% (610 won) to 5,100 won, extending a rally that included a 14% jump on Sept. 23. The stock is up nearly 50% from the mid-3,000-won range early this month, though it remains about half its 52-week high of 10,180 won.

The catalyst is the company’s participation in World ADC, an ADC conference taking place in San Diego from October 12 to 15. The company will present key data on novel-target ADC candidates discovered through its in-house platform, GNOCLE, and hold licensing talks with multiple potential partners.

Its competitive advantage lies in novel targets. While existing ADCs largely focus on HER2 or TROP2, Genome & Company is developing GENA-104, an ADC targeting contactin-4 (CNTN4), and GENA-120, an ADC targeting integrin β4 (ITGB4). GENA-120 carries eight payloads per antibody (DAR 8), compared to DAR 4 for China’s CStone CS5006, a competing ITGB4 candidate.

SG Healthcare Secures Exclusive Korean Rights to CASHIM’s Triple-Ion Therapy System

SG Healthcare rose about 13% to 2,305 won, breaking out of the 1,900-won range where it had been trading sideways until mid-month.

The direct driver is its entry into particle therapy, a market with high barriers to entry. The company announced on September 29 that it had signed an exclusive domestic supply and strategic partnership agreement with Chinese particle therapy firm CASHIM the previous day. SG Healthcare will handle business development, installation support, training, and maintenance for hospitals in Korea.

CASHIM’s HiTS 200 delivers three types of particle beams—protons, helium ions, and carbon ions—from a single accelerator platform. Designed for approximately 1,500 square meters, it can be built in a smaller space than conventional particle therapy centers, which require large sites and significant facility investment.

CASHIM builds on heavy-ion accelerator research conducted by the Institute of Modern Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and received Chinese approval for its medical heavy-ion accelerator in 2019. Five of its systems are currently in operation in China, with nine more scheduled to be operational by 2031.

“This contract marks an important starting point for bringing next-generation particle therapy technology to Korean medical settings,” said SG Healthcare CEO Kim Jeong-su. He added that the company would go beyond simply supplying equipment to provide integrated solutions optimized for Korea and expand into a next-generation cancer treatment platform through convergence with AI.