[THE INVESTOR] Pharmaceutical and biotech firms traded on the secondary KOSDAQ market have seen their combined value top 20 percent of the total market capitalization, data showed on Nov. 22.

According to the data from the Korea Exchange, the combined market value of 73 KOSDAQ-listed pharmaceutical and biotech companies stood at 59.2 trillion won, accounting for 21.5 percent of the total market cap.

The percentage, which came to 17.3 percent at the end of last year, rose to 20.2 percent on Nov. 6, surpassing the 20 percent level for the first time.

The biopharma sector has the largest market value, followed by chipmakers with 9.8 percent and the IT parts industry with 6.9 percent.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)