South Korean stocks started higher Friday as investors piled up bio shares after Hanmi Pharmaceutical announced a mega license agreement with a French drugmaker.
  

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 2.45 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,051.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
  

Bio shares got off to a strong start after Hanmi Pharmaceutical on Thursday said it reached a license agreement with Sanofi to develop a portfolio of experimental, long-acting diabetes treatments, worth up to 3.9 billion euros ($4.2 billion). Its shares soared by the daily limit of 30 percent.
  

Green Cross Corp. jumped 6.59 percent, and Yuhan Corp. rose 3.3 percent.
  

The local currency was trading at 1,137.5 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap)