(Yicai Global) Feb. 21 -- Shares of China's Kexing Bioproducts jumped to a more than two-month high after the drugmaker said its unit will join hands with AntiV BioPharma to bring an oral Covid-19 medicine to market.

Kexing's price [SHA: 688136] soared as much as 20 percent to CNY31.49 (USD5) intraday, the highest since last December. The shares are still more than 20 percent down over the past 12 months.

Kexing Pharmaceutical will pay Shenzhen-based AntiV CNY100 million (USD15.8 million) in total to obtain exclusive intellectual property rights for the latter's small molecule drug, named SHEN26, globally, the Shandong province-based partner said in a statement yesterday.

SHEN26 belongs to the same category of drugs as remdesivir, another RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor that was earlier suggested to be used to treat hospitalized Covid-19 patients. SHEN26 is in a stage of preclinical studies and pilot production, according to the statement.

The agreement states that the down payment is CNY20 million (USD3.2 million), after which there will be subsequent payments upon reaching certain milestones. Moreover, Kexing is slated to gain a 10 percent stake in the partner. Once the product hits the market, Kexing will offer AntiV sales commissions.

Kexing will be responsible for clinical studies, marketing, and commercialization of the product. AntiV will handle the patent application process.

AntiV's core members are two renowned antiviral drug experts who work at two Chinese universities, Kexing added.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi