(Yicai Global) July 28 -- The stock price of Zhejiang Starry Pharmaceutical, one of China’s main iohexol active pharmaceutical ingredient producers, plummeted by the exchange-imposed limit today after one of its workshops burst into flames, seriously injuring two employees and bringing production to halt.

Starry Pharma’s stock price [SHA:603520], which had gained over 80 percent this year, tumbled 10 percent to close at CNY70.43 (USD10.06).

There was an explosion at the drugmaker’s crude iohexol workshop in Taizhou, eastern Zhejiang province at around 7 p.m. yesterday, the Taizhou-based firm said today. The resulting fire was put out within half an hour, but two employees were badly injured and the plant has been damaged, directly impacting the firm’s iohexol API production capacity.

Starry Pharma has another factory that can make iohexol APIs, which are used to make contrast agents used in medical imaging such as X-rays, the firm’s office of the secretary to the chairman told Yicai Global. The company is, however, unable at this stage to determine the extent of the accident’s impact on material supply to its downstream contrast agent manufacturers, it added.

One of these downstream firms, Beijing Beilu Pharmaceutical, is a major shareholder in another iohexol API supplier Zhejiang Hichi Pharmaceutical and therefore it will not be affected, its office of the secretary to the chairman told Yicai Global.

Beilu Pharma’s stock price [SHE:300016] reacted to the news by shooting up 10 percent to close at CNY12.06 (USD1.72).

There are 13 companies in China that sell finished iohexol products, including Beilu Pharma and GE Healthcare. The country’s iohexol market was worth CNY2.7 billion (USD385.5 million) last year, up 7.54 percent from the previous year, according to statistics from the China National Pharmaceutical Industry Information Center.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor