(Yicai Global) Feb. 22 -- Starry Pharmaceutical’s stock price surged after the generic x-ray contrast agent developed by the Chinese drugmaker received marketing approval.

Shares of Starry Pharma [SHA: 603520] closed up 7.3 percent at CNY22.60 (USD3.28) each today.

Generic radiocontrast agent Iomeprol Injection, in which Starry Pharma invested over CNY10 million (USD1.5 million), passed the State Drug Administration's generic drug quality and efficacy consistency evaluation and received a marketing license, the Zhejiang province-based firm said late yesterday.

The original x-ray contrast agent, Iomeprol, was developed by Italian company Bracco and entered China in 2005, but no generic product was available in the domestic market before Iomeprol Injection, Starry Pharma noted. Iomeprol is the fastest-growing radiocontrast agent in China, thanks to its many advantages, the firm added.

Starry Pharma did not make any prediction about the financial contribution of the newly approved product, but according to pharmaceutical data platform Menet, demand is strong. Bracco sold CNY396 million (USD57.5 million) of x-ray contrast agents in China in 2021, up 149 percent from 2020 and accounting for 2.9 percent of the market, per Menet data.

Starry Pharma is one of China’s major contrast agent producers. Its revenue from the business reached CNY1.7 billion (USD250 million) in 2021, accounting for 87 percent of the firm’s total revenue, its most recent annual trading report showed.

Editor: Futura Costaglione