(Yicai) Aug. 9 -- CanSino Biologics saw its shares surge as much as 25.7 percent in Hong Kong today after the Chinese vaccine maker said it will develop and produce mRNA jabs for UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

CanSino’s Shanghai shares [SHA:688185] closed up 20 percent at CNY98.22 (USD13.63) and its Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG:6185] was trading up 18.7 percent at HKD31.35 (USD4) as of 3.30 p.m. China time. Earlier in the day it hit HKD33.20.

CanSino will develop mRNA vaccines for Cambridge-based AstraZeneca for the next 10 years, the Tianjin-headquartered company said yesterday, citing the deal signed between the two parties on Aug. 7. No details about the types of mRNA jabs that will be developed nor any financial details were mentioned.

The tie-up is unlikely to have a big effect on CanSino’s performance this year, it added. But the deal is proof that CanSino’s technological abilities in developing mRNA vaccines have achieved worldwide recognition, it said.

CanSino has finished building the first phase of its mRNA vaccine production base and it is able to support the research, development and commercialization of different jabs, it said. When complete, the plant will have an output of 100 million doses of mRNA vaccines a year.

CanSino was at the forefront of China’s battle to contain the novel coronavirus during the pandemic. The firm’s adenoviral vector-based vaccine was one of the first Covid-19 jabs to be approved by Chinese regulators for emergency use, and in April, CanSino’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine was given the go-ahead to start clinical trials.

CanSino’s factory in the Lingang Special Area, part of Shanghai’s free trade zone, has started trial production, an executive said last December. CanSino will not limit its mRNA tech development platform to Covid-19 vaccines only but will extend it to other jabs, he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor