![\"null](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/news-g.v1.20260706.acc2af6df3e548bf8d19fa43bbd7ae54_P1.jpg\"\/ "\\"Korea's")
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Concerns are growing that a tier system being pursued by the Korea Exchange (KRX) to revitalize the Kosdaq market could damage the drug development ecosystem. Reflecting financial performance in the top-tier group “Kosdaq Select” (tentative name) would make it impossible for drug developers, which spend large sums on research and development (R&D) without revenue, to be included. If drug licensing performance is reflected as in the current “Kosdaq Global” segment, it could lead only to the overseas outflow of drug assets rather than in-house development. Accordingly, some point out that diverse evaluation criteria beyond technology transfers must be established.<\/p>\n
According to the industry Tuesday, the exchange is pursuing the introduction of a tier system that classifies Kosdaq companies into Select, Standard, and management groups. The top-tier Kosdaq Select segment will select and include about 70 leading companies with growth potential and stability. Constituent stocks will be changed periodically through screening. The exchange is expected to establish specific criteria as early as next month through public hearings and to unveil a final plan at the end of September this year.<\/p>\n
Companies included in Kosdaq Select will gain an advantageous position in terms of capital inflow. The exchange announced a plan to develop a new index centered on the top companies within Kosdaq Select. It also decided to introduce an exchange-traded fund (ETF) linked to Kosdaq Select to create conditions for passive fund inflows and to encourage expanded investment by pension funds.<\/p>\n
The problem is that concerns are growing that such a system will damage the domestic drug development ecosystem. If the exchange emphasizes financial performance for stability, it will be impossible for drug developers with no revenue to be included in Kosdaq Select. Accordingly, the market observes that medical device companies with stable revenue and profits, particularly aesthetic medicine companies, are more likely to be included.<\/p>\n
If separate criteria are applied to drug developers, controversy is expected to arise over what standards to use for evaluation. The Kosdaq Global segment, which currently plays a role similar to Kosdaq Select, requires types that are difficult to assess by financial performance, such as drug developers, to have: shareholders’ equity of at least 100 billion won; multiple candidate substances in Phase 1 clinical trials; and a track record of drug approval or technology transfer.<\/p>\n
However, requiring biotech companies to have a technology transfer track record is likely to cause the side effect of merely triggering the overseas outflow of drug assets. Kim Min-jung, a researcher at DS Investment & Securities, noted, “Technology transfers reduce drug development costs and risks, but they also greatly reduce the profits that can be earned after launch.” She added, “If technology transfer is used to judge whether a company is sound, it means that instead of the state directly evaluating a company’s technological capabilities, it is easily borrowing the judgment of foreign companies.”<\/p>\n
This also runs counter to the situation in which the government has created a “Phase 3 clinical trial fund” and encourages the completion of drug development. In the case of domestic companies, they often conclude contracts at bargain prices with upfront payments of less than 100 billion won by transferring technology before the clinical stage. This is in contrast to Chinese companies, which transfer technology after Phase 1 clinical trials while receiving upfront payments of 300 billion to 500 billion won. Another problem cited is that innovative drugs such as First-in-Class treatments, which are unverified, are in fact harder to license out.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, experts pointed out that the criteria for including drug developers in Kosdaq Select should be diversified. Lee Seung-gyu, vice chairman of the Korea Bio Association, said, “Technology transfers are to some extent inevitable in the domestic drug development ecosystem, but at the stage of directly creating new value, technology transfers should not be an absolute standard.” He added, “There is a need to set multiple standards and apply them selectively, such as recognizing companies that conduct clinical trials directly, or having an expert committee evaluate technological capabilities.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Concerns are growing that a tier system being pursued by the Korea Exchange (KRX) to revitalize the Kosdaq…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[41723,35973,31670,41724,337,38720,864,10232,41722],"class_list":["post-76801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea-exchange","tag-biotech-companies","tag-clinical-trials","tag-drug-development","tag-korea-bio-association","tag-korea-exchange","tag-kosdaq-select","tag-krx","tag-technology-transfer","tag-tier-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}