Hanmi Pharmaceutical plunges 6% despite obesity drug approval as expectations were already priced in [Stock NOW]

[Financial News] Hanmi Pharmaceutical is plunging more than 6% early in the session despite news that its self-developed obesity treatment efpeglenatide has been approved in South Korea.
With much of the anticipation of new-drug approval already reflected in the share price, the actual approval appears to have prompted investors to take profits.
As of 9:12 a.m. on the 8th, Hanmi Pharmaceutical was trading at 500,000 won, down 34,000 won (-6.37%) from the previous trading day, according to the Korea Exchange. The stock rose as high as 565,000 won early in the session, gaining 6.0%, but subsequently gave up all of those gains and reversed sharply lower.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical rose for four consecutive trading days through the previous day. Its share price climbed from 501,000 won on the 1st to 503,000 won on the 2nd, 529,000 won on the 6th and 534,000 won on the 7th, rising about 6.6% in the run-up to approval.
As a result, analysts say the approval, confirmed after the market closed the previous day, is likely to have a limited effect in driving the share price higher today, given that it is no longer new information.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Epeo Auto-Injector injection the previous day as South Korea’s 45th domestically developed new drug and its first domestically developed GLP-1 obesity treatment. Hanmi Pharmaceutical received approval for five dosage strengths—2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mg—and has begun preparing for launch, with the goal of supplying it in South Korea by the end of the year.
Efpeglenatide is a GLP-1 single-receptor agonist like Wegovy and uses Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s long-acting platform technology, LAPSCOVERY. With a domestically developed new drug set to enter South Korea’s obesity-treatment market, currently divided between Wegovy and Mounjaro, competition is expected to intensify. 
Analysts say the key factors for the share price going forward will be the product’s price, actual sales volume and market share, and whether these translate into profitability, rather than the approval itself.
iM Securities had already factored efpeglenatide’s launch in South Korea into its valuation. In its latest report, it instead incorporated additional value for the next-generation obesity drug HM17321 and raised its target price to 650,000 won.

[email protected] Kang Jung-mo Reporter