Adbiotech Hits Upper Limit on Expectations for Avian Influenza Treatment Development [K-Bio Pulse...

This article was released as Pharm Edaily Premium Content on March 13, 2026, at 8:00 AM.

[Shin-Min Joon, Edaily Reporter] On March 12 Adbiotech drew attention in the domestic pharmaceutical and biotechnology stock market by hitting the daily upper price limit. The surge is believed to reflect expectations for the development of antibody based preventive and therapeutic treatments for avian influenza (AI) as outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza continue to occur across the country.

Syntekabio’s stock also rose for a third consecutive trading day supported by expectations of improved performance this year based on its artificial intelligence (AI), supercomputing capabilities, and a large scale data center reportedly the only one of its kind in Korea.

Meanwhile Alteogen’s share price responded positively to news that the company had registered a composition patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) related to a subcutaneous (SC) formulation of Keytruda a global blockbuster immuno oncology drug.

Adbiotech stock trend on Mar 12.(Image=MP Doctor)

Adbiotech Gains Attention on Avian Influenza Spread Syntekabio and Alteogen Also Rise

On March 12 Adbiotech drew strong attention in the domestic pharmaceutical and biotechnology stock market as its shares surged to the daily upper price limit amid the nationwide spread of avian influenza.

According to KG Zeroin’s MP DOCTOR (formerly Market Point), Adbiotech’s stock price jumped 29.99% from the previous session to 1920 won. The company has been attracting attention as outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza continue to occur across the country including in North Jeolla Province highlighting expectations for the development of related treatments.

The North Jeolla Special Self-Governing Province recently announced that an H5-type avian influenza (AI) antigen was detected at a broiler breeder farm in Baeksan-myeon, Gimje.

If confirmed as highly pathogenic it would mark the fifth case in the province this winter and the 55th nationwide. Authorities have culled approximately 60000 broiler breeder chickens at the farm as a preventive measure and deployed an emergency response team to strengthen quarantine measures.

Adbiotech is currently developing Anti-H9 ScFv, an antibody based preventive and therapeutic candidate targeting low pathogenic avian influenza. In January the company confirmed the efficacy of oral administration of Anti-H9 ScFv against the Y280 lineage H9N2 low-pathogenic avian influenza strain.

The company has focused on passive immunity based antibody therapeutics that could complement the limitations of conventional vaccines. Anti-H9 ScFv is a single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-based antibody designed to induce an immediate immune response in the early stage of infection by directly administering antibodies into the body.

The efficacy evaluation was conducted by adding Anti-H9 ScFv to feed and administering it orally to laying hens, followed by analysis of changes in antibody responses to the H9 avian influenza virus antigen. Antibody levels were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before administration and at two and four weeks after dosing.

The results showed an increase in blood antibody levels as early as two weeks after administration. At four weeks, antibody levels were approximately 30~40% higher than before treatment. The study confirmed that oral administration of Anti-H9 ScFv stimulates the chicken immune system, increases the production of Anti-H9 antibodies that respond to the H9 AI virus and enhances immune responses to the H9 antigen.

Low-pathogenic H9 avian influenza causes economic losses to poultry farms by reducing egg production in laying hens and lowering productivity in broiler breeders. Currently, there are no dedicated treatments and farmers largely rely on general antiviral drugs which face limitations such as drug resistance and high costs.

An Adbiotech official said the findings are meaningful as they demonstrate the effectiveness of antibody therapeutics against low pathogenic AI. The company plans to conduct further studies to improve field applicability and continue development as a new disease control option that complements vaccines.

Syntekabio stock trend on Mar 12.(Image=MP Doctor)

Syntekabio Eyes Performance Turning Point with Large Scale Data Center

Shares of AI driven drug discovery company Syntekabio rose 4.09% to 3180 won on the day extending gains for a third consecutive trading session since March 10.

According to a premium article published by PharmEdaily, a pharmaceutical and biotech content service of Edaily, Syntekabio expects this year to mark a turning point in its financial performance.

The company is the only domestic firm to operate a large-scale data center dedicated to AI drug discovery. The facility supports the emerging trend of ultra large screening platforms in AI based drug development.

Syntekabio invested about 50 billion won to build the center in a five-story independent building in the Daejeon Science Belt capable of accommodating clusters of more than 5000 CPUs and GPUs.

It is considered unusual for a relatively small company to invest hundreds of billions of won in building a data center due to the substantial operating costs involved. Even among global AI drug discovery firms including Schrödinger relatively few companies operate their own large scale data centers.

Syntekabio also resolved much of its financial uncertainty last year. As a technology special listing company it met the revenue requirement of 3 billion won through various project achievements and completed a rights offering worth 24.3 billion won strengthening its financial stability and easing concerns over maintaining its listing status.

The company further validated its AI platform technology by publishing a research paper on 3D Binding GPT which learns protein binding using a language model approach. The study was conducted jointly with U.S. AI semiconductor company Cerebras and significantly improved the speed and accuracy of platform analysis.

This year, Syntekabio is also preparing to publish an AI research paper related to toxicity prediction in an SCI indexed journal.

Yong Min je president of the management division said the company plans to expand its proprietary AI discovered pipeline beyond its previous focus on client requested projects.

To support this strategy, Syntekabio intends to launch the Open VDR platform which will disclose information on candidate substances discovered through AI and use the platform to pursue global licensing out deals with pharmaceutical companies.

Alteogen stock trend on Mar 12.(Image=MP Doctor)

Alteogen Secures U.S. Patent for Keytruda SC Composition

Alteogen’s shares rose 3.47% to 372500 won on the day. The company recently completed the registration of a composition patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for Keytruda Qlex, which combines Merck’s blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda with Alteogen’s Hybrozyme platform technology ALT-B4.

With the patent registration the Keytruda subcutaneous (SC) product incorporating Alteogen’s technology will receive patent protection in the United States until early 2043, securing about 17 years of protection. Keytruda Qlex which received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September last year and is already on the market, is expected to strengthen its market exclusivity through the new patent.

The development is also expected to significantly expand Alteogen’s profitability. Depending on future sales performance, the company could receive milestone payments of up to 1 billion dollars (approximately 1.3 trillion won) followed by separate sales royalties.

Alteogen explained that the registration is meaningful as the USPTO officially recognized the novelty and independent invention of ALT-B4 despite intellectual property concerns that had previously been raised.

From the early stages of development, the company has built a comprehensive patent portfolio covering variants, compositions and application scopes to ensure the stable establishment of its Hybrozyme platform. This strategy has become a key competitive advantage, enabling partner companies to develop competitive therapeutics on a broad patent foundation.

CEO Jeon Tae yeon said securing intellectual property protection for ALT-B4 not only as a substance but also as a composition combined with Keytruda is a highly meaningful achievement. He

emphasized that the registration demonstrates the tangible results of the company’s multidimensional intellectual property strategy.

신민준 (adonis@edaily.co.kr)