"Illicit gains of 1 billion won ($739,000)?" — ABL Bio executive "They made more than 1 billion won." — Rainbow Robotics insider Executives, employees and their family members at ABL Bio — one of South Korea's leading biotech companies with a market capitalization exceeding 3 trillion won — are under investigation on suspicion of using undisclosed information to reap illicit gains of around 1 billion won. News of the probe sent the company's share price tumbling, inflicting heavy losses on investors. According to industry sources Wednesday, the Joint Task Force on Stock Price Manipulation raided ABL Bio's headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, as well as the homes of employees suspected of involvement, on Tuesday. About 10 ABL Bio employees and others are suspected of buying company shares before the public disclosure of a technology licensing deal with a global pharmaceutical company, then selling them after the share price rose — netting illicit gains of around 1 billion won in the process. Last year, ABL Bio announced a technology licensing agreement with a global pharmaceutical company worth up to 4.1 trillion won ($3.03 billion). The share price hit the daily upper limit on the day of the announcement. Seven months later, the company signed another major licensing deal with a global pharmaceutical company valued at up to 3 trillion won, sending the share price surging for two consecutive days. The stock hit the daily upper limit on Nov. 12 last year and climbed more than 29 percent the following day, rising more than 67 percent in just two days to break through the 160,000 won mark. During this period, company executives, employees and their family members are suspected of buying shares in advance and selling them to pocket large illicit gains. As news of the probe spread, ABL Bio's share price fell more than 8 percent on Tuesday and dropped a further 2 percent Wednesday, closing at 57,900 won. ABL Bio was founded in February 2016 and listed on Kosdaq in 2018. The company develops immunotherapy anticancer drugs and treatments for degenerative brain diseases based on bispecific antibody technology. In a message to shareholders posted on its website Wednesday, ABL Bio said it would "cooperate sincerely and transparently so that the facts can be clearly established in relation to the procedures currently being carried out by the relevant authorities." However, it added that "it is difficult for the company to make its own judgment or provide specific details on matters currently in progress, in accordance with relevant laws and procedures." Meanwhile, executives and employees at Rainbow Robotics, a leading Kosdaq robotics company, are also under investigation by prosecutors on suspicion of front-running. They are suspected of using inside information to buy and sell Rainbow Robotics shares while Samsung Electronics was acquiring a stake in the company between 2022 and 2024, netting illicit gains of more than 1 billion won. Prosecutors believe some of those involved borrowed money to fund their trades or tipped off acquaintances, who also profited illicitly. The government has previously stated that it will "track down and recover all illegal gains obtained through unfair trading practices, sending a clear message to the market that stock price manipulation leads to financial ruin."