Shares of Kosdaq-listed Seegene Inc. hit daily ceiling for the second straight day, with its market value topping 3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) Thursday to become the third most valuable stock on the secondary bourse on reports that states have been lining up for its point-of-care diagnostic sampling kits for COVID-19.

Shares of Seegene gained 30 percent, the permissible daily high, for the second straight day to close at 114,500 won Thursday. Its market cap surged to over 3 trillion, third largest after Celltrion Healthcare (9.5 trillion won) and HLB (3.8 trillion won) on the Kosdaq market. The share was at 67,800 won before President Moon Jae-in dropped by the lab on Wednesday after he received a call from his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump asking for supplies in medical equipment from Korea – mostly diagnostic kits.

Other countries have been in frenzied competition to get the company’s coronavirus testing kits known for its speed and accuracy.

By Minu Kim

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