Shinhan Investment & Securities said on the 23rd that a patent infringement lawsuit surrounding Merck (MSD), a U.S. pharmaceutical company and a partner of Alteogen, is moving in a favorable direction. It projected that, accordingly, patent rulings underway in Europe, including the United Kingdom and Germany, and in the United States will also trend favorably.
It maintained a "buy (BUY)" investment rating and a target price of 5.7 million won. On the previous trading day, Alteogen closed at 402,000 won, leaving 41.8% upside potential.
According to Shinhan Investment & Securities, on Jan. 21, 2026, the U.K. patent court dismissed a countersuit filed by U.S. biotech company Halozyme over patent infringement. The court was said to have found that the countersuit "amounted to allegations without specific grounds."
Earlier, when Merck petitioned to invalidate two of its patents, Halozyme hit back by submitting a statement of case (SOCI) claiming that Merck's Keytruda subcutaneous (SC) formulation infringed its patents. The U.K. court did not accept this.
Eom Min-yong, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "Halozyme failed to identify the specific sequence of the active hyaluronidase enzyme and did not present clear examples of increased enzyme stability, leading to a finding of insufficient patentability." Eom added, "It is also a favorable decision for Merck that the U.K. court did not allow an extension of Halozyme's deadline to submit its statement or an appeal for a stay, and required submission of related documents by the existing deadline of Feb. 4, 2026."
Shinhan Investment & Securities said the U.K. ruling is likely to have a positive impact on patent disputes underway in Germany and the United States. Eom said, "In December, the German district court granted a preliminary injunction banning Keytruda SC sales, and among the patents addressed in the U.K. this time was the EP 622 patent," adding, "At the 'preliminary opinion' of the German Intellectual Property High Court scheduled for February to March, the likelihood of lifting the sales ban has increased."
Eom added, "We believe the outcome of the U.S. patent invalidation hearing before June 2 will also be positively affected."