Oscotec mends rift with shareholders…tailwinds for Onconic and AbClon [K-Bio Pulse]

This article was released as Pharm Edaily Premium Content on March 16, 2026, at 7:50 AM.

[Lim Jeong-yeo, Edaily Reporter] On the 13th, shares of Oscotec, Onconic Therapeutics and AbClon in Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech market rose in the mid to high teens percentage range.

Oscotec drew attention for signaling that it would accommodate the views of a shareholder coalition in the board composition to be proposed at the shareholders’ meeting later this month.

Onconic Therapeutics appeared to benefit from anticipation surrounding the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting next month. AbClon gained momentum as it became almost certain that the company would be removed from the KOSDAQ watchlist following its audit report.

Oscotec chart(Cred=KG Zeroin·MP Doctor)

Oscotec Signals Management Stabilization

According to KG Zeroin’s MP Doctor (formerly MarketPoint), Oscotec closed at 56,100 won, up 16.75% (8,050 won) from the previous day.

Through a disclosure, Oscotec presented a board composition plan that accommodates the views of the minority shareholder coalition. The move signals efforts to stabilize the company’s management direction which had been unsettled following both its conflict with the shareholder group and the sudden passing of Chairman Kim Jung-geun, the company’s largest shareholder.

The revised list of board candidates disclosed on the 13th reflects a compromise between the company and the shareholder coalition.

Previously, the company’s proposed board candidates and those put forward by the shareholder coalition did not match, making a proxy vote battle likely. The company had earlier nominated Yoon Tae young, (CEO) Shin Dong jun (Executive Vice President) and Shim Hye seok (Managing Director) as inside directors Kim Kyu sik and Hong Nam gi as outside directors and Lee Kwang yeol as standing auditor.

Meanwhile the shareholder coalition had proposed Kang Jin-hyung (Professor of Internal Medicine at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital), Lee Seung yong (CEO of Medipium Clinic Pangyo) as inside directors Yoon Soon nam (advisor to Yuhan’s R&D advisory board) and Lee Kyung seop (attorney at Barun Law) as outside directors and Lee Beom (standing auditor of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation) as auditor.

From the coalition’s nominees, Kang Jin hyung (inside director), Lee Kyung seop (outside director), and Lee Beom (standing auditor) remain in the revised disclosure.

The revised plan shows inside director candidates as Yoon Tae young, Shin Dong jun, Kang Jin hyung outside director candidates as Kim Kyu sik, Lee Kyung seop and standing auditor candidate as Lee Beom.

Including CEO Lee Sang hyun and R&D head Kwak Young shin, whose terms run until March 2028, Oscotec’s board will expand from four to seven members.

An Oscotec official said “The board determined that reducing unnecessary proxy fights and uncertainty, and creating a foundation to focus on R&D and business performance was more important. We plan to concentrate on long-term growth based on a stable and trusted governance system.”

Meanwhile Oscotec recorded won 99.8 billion in revenue last year, a threefold increase from the previous year. Operating profit reached won 52 billion turning around from an operating loss of won 2.7 billion the year before. Net profit also turned positive at won 54.7 billion compared with a won 1.5 billion loss the previous year.

The performance was driven by expanding sales of lazertinib a lung cancer drug licensed to Yuhan Corporation as well as upfront payments received from the licensing out of a dementia drug candidate co developed with partner ADEL.

Onconic Therapeutics chart (Cred=KG Zeroin·MP Doctor)

Onconic Therapeutics Signals Global Push for Nesuparib

On the same day, Onconic Therapeutics closed at 26,200 won, up 16.19% (3,650 won). Since listing on the KOSDAQ in December 2024 at an IPO price of 13,000 won, the company’s valuation has roughly doubled within about a year. Its largest shareholder is Jeil Pharmaceutical, which owns 44.95%, limiting the amount of shares available for trading in the market.

Regarding the stock’s rise, a company official said “It seems the effect of the AACR season the largest cancer research conference in the U.S. is being reflected. Our anticancer drug Nesuparib currently in Phase 2 trials will conduct a multi ethnic Phase 1 study in Korea. The goal is to accumulate preliminary data for global expansion by confirming safety in healthy multi ethnic participants residing in Korea (Koreans, Caucasians, and Chinese).”

Onconic Therapeutics is one of the few new drug developers that has exceeded the revenue forecasts it presented at the time of listing. While the company forecast 2024 earnings to be won 9.5 billion it actually earned won 14.8 billion. As for 2025 the company forecast won 16.2 billion in earnings while actually it earned won 53.3 billion.

Notably, the company already exceeded its 2026 revenue forecast of won 40.1 billion in 2025. According to Onconic Therapeutics, its domestically developed drug Zaqbo (Zaqbo tablets) the 37th Korean-developed new drug was launched on October 1, 2024. Because it entered the market later than competitors and has fewer approved or clinical indications than rival P-CAB products and given the potential for intensified competition from new P-CAB drugs or generics the company had set conservative projections during the IPO.

In addition, clinical development by Chinese licensing partner Livzon Pharmaceutical progressed faster than expected. As a result, milestone payments originally expected after 2025 were recognized in August 2025, boosting actual performance above forecasts.

AbClon chart(Cred=KG Zeroin·MP Doctor)

AbClon to Be Removed From Watchlist on the 16th

AbClon closed at 89,100 won, up 11.93% (9,500 won) from the previous day. The rise was attributed to the company disclosing that its audit report received an unqualified opinion, confirming that its annual revenue exceeded the won 3 billion threshold required to maintain KOSDAQ listing status.

Antibody drug developer AbClon had previously been designated as a watchlist company under KOSDAQ rules because its 2024 revenue was in the won 2 billion range, below the required threshold. While watchlist designation does not suspend trading, it is a label companies typically seek to avoid.

According to AbClon’s audit report, the company posted 2025 revenue of won 4.7 billion, which is more than double year on year. Operating loss was won 17.6 billion and net loss was won 17.9 billion, both slightly wider than the previous year.

An AbClon official said “The watchlist designation will be lifted on the next business day, the 16th. We thank all shareholders who trusted and waited.”

Even while on the watchlist AbClon continued to secure investments through third party allocations.

In May last year the company conducted a won 12.2 billion third party allotment rights offering to Chong Kun Dang, which subscribed to new shares at 8,723 won per share, becoming the second-largest shareholder.

AbClon later raised won 10.8 billion through convertible preferred shares (CPS) and won 25.2 billion through perpetual convertible bonds (perpetual CB) in October. Both securities were issued to the same institutional investors at a conversion price of 18,223 won.

Investors in the combined won 36 billion CPS and CB included DSC Investment Paratus Investment, Dongyu Investment, AlphaView Partners, and Winvest Venture Investment. The conversion period begins in November for CPS and in October for the CB.

임정요 (kaylalim@edaily.co.kr)