KOSPI Pharmaceutical Index Market Cap Rebounds to KRW 140 Trillion

The weakness in pharmaceutical stocks persisted in July, as 30 of the 49 constituents of the KOSPI Pharmaceutical Index posted share price declines.

Nevertheless, the KOSPI Pharmaceutical Index's total market capitalization rebounded above the KRW 140 trillion mark (excluding preferred shares), as the market capitalizations of Samsung Biologics and Celltrion—the index's two largest constituents—expanded.

According to the Korea Exchange, the combined market capitalization of the 49 constituents of the KOSPI Pharmaceutical Index reached KRW 140.1197 trillion as of the market close on July 31, increasing by KRW 5.45 trillion from the end of the previous month and returning above the KRW 140 trillion mark.

During the period, Samsung Biologics' market capitalization increased by KRW 4.3513 trillion, while Celltrion added KRW 3.1162 trillion.

As a result, the combined weight of the two companies in the KOSPI Pharmaceutical Index rose from 77.7% to 80.0%. Samsung Biologics' index weight increased from 47.8% to 49.1%, while Celltrion's rose from 29.9% to 31.0%.

Yuhan Corporation's market capitalization, which had fallen below the KRW 6 trillion mark last month, also increased by KRW 262.8 billion during the period, although it has yet to regain the KRW 6 trillion level.

Among other gainers, Dongsung Bio Pharm, which resumed trading during the period, saw its market capitalization increase by KRW 84.3 billion. Handok added KRW 26.0 billion, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical KRW 20.9 billion, Ilsung IS KRW 14.9 billion, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical KRW 12.7 billion.

Meanwhile, HanAll Biopharma's market capitalization declined by KRW 992.6 billion during the same period, while Hanmi Pharmaceutical's fell by KRW 819.9 billion. SK Bioscience and Ildong Pharmaceutical also saw their market capitalizations decline by more than KRW 100 billion.

In addition, the market capitalizations of Samyang Biopharm, JW Pharmaceutical, GC Biopharma, Shin Poong Pharm, Daewoong, Bukwang Pharmaceutical, Boryung, Samjin Pharmaceutical, Hyundai Pharm, Jeil Pharmaceutical, and Daewon Pharmaceutical each declined by more than KRW 10 billion.

In terms of share price performance, Dongsung Bio Pharm surged 89.72% during the period, while Handok gained 26.73% and PharmGen Science advanced 11.30%, with all three posting double-digit gains. Celltrion, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, Samsung Biologics, IL-Yang Pharmaceutical, and Ilsung IS also posted gains of more than 5%.

Conversely, HanAll Biopharma's share price plunged 30.45%, while Samyang Biopharm declined 21.83%. Ildong Pharmaceutical, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Myungmoon Pharm, and Shin Poong Pharm also posted double-digit declines.

In addition, the share prices of JW Pharmaceutical, Jeil Pharmaceutical, Aprogen, Samsung Pharm, Bukwang Pharmaceutical, Dongwha Pharmaceuticals, Yuyu Pharma, Hyundai Pharm, Samil Pharmaceutical, Daewon Pharmaceutical, Samjin Pharmaceutical, and SK Bioscience each fell by more than 5% during the month.

As of July 31, Samsung Biologics remained the largest company in the index with a market capitalization of KRW 68.7421 trillion, followed by Celltrion at KRW 43.4168 trillion.

The next largest constituents were Yuhan Corporation at KRW 5.8541 trillion, Hanmi Pharmaceutical at KRW 4.2725 trillion, SK Bioscience at KRW 2.6558 trillion, HanAll Biopharma at KRW 2.2672 trillion, GC Biopharma at KRW 1.3545 trillion, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical at KRW 1.3186 trillion, all with market capitalizations exceeding KRW 1 trillion.