(Yicai Global) May 9 -- Shares in China Resources Double-Crane Pharmaceutical surged by the exchange-imposed limit today after the Chinese drugmaker said that it has won the contract to produce an experimental Covid-19 treatment.

CR Double-Crane’s share price [SHA:600062] finished up 10 percent at CNY30.16 (USD4.50), close to an all-time high. The stock has more than doubled in value in the past month since rumor began to circulate of the deal.

CR Double-Crane has been appointed by drug developer Henan Genuine Biotech to produce Azvudine, a medicine greenlit by Chinese authorities in July last year to treat HIV-infected patients, the Beijing-based firm said yesterday. Pingdingshan-based Genuine Biotech began to apply it on Covid-19 patients after the pandemic broke out and it finished clinical trials last month, although the results have yet to be disclosed.

CR Double-Crane’s production rights will last for a decade, but at different stages additional contracts will be penned to confirm orders, methods of payment, delivery terms, quantities and other details based on the latest clinical trials and actual market conditions, the unit of state-owned conglomerate China Resources Holdings said.

At present there is only one orally-taken Covid-19 medicine available in China, and that is US biomedical giant Pfizer’s Paxlovid. China approved the import of the drug in February and it is now selling for CNY2,300 (USD351) a box.

Covid-19 pills are becoming a focus of the market amid a fresh wave of outbreaks driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant. Other such tablet-form medicines now at the clinical trial stage are Shanghai Junshi Biosciences’ VV116, Kintor Pharmaceuticals’ Proxalutamide and Simcere Pharaceutical’s SIM0417.

Azvudine is highly effective in the treatment of both mild and severe cases of Covid-19 based on clinical trial data, The Paper reported earlier, citing Jiang Jiandong, a member of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical was also signed by Genuine Biotech to produce and market Azvudine in China last month. Its mainland-listed stock [SHE:000756] hit limit-up for six straight trading days after the news was announced on April 26, gaining 77 percent in value. Its Hong Kong-traded shares [HKG:0719] jumped 73 percent over the same period.

Editor: Kim Taylor