(Yicai) Jan. 15 -- Hepalink Pharmaceutical Group’s shares fell after the world's largest supplier of heparin raw materials said subsidiary Techdow Pharma Italy recently lost EUR11.7 million (USD12.8 million) in a telecom fraud.

Hepalink [SHE: 002399] finished 4.9 percent lower at CNY10.25 (USD1.43) a share in Shenzhen today, while the company’s Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 9989] sank 4.6 percent to end at HKD3.08 (39 US cents).

The incident was an isolated event and Techdow Pharma is operating normally, its Shenzhen-based parent firm announced yesterday. Hepalink has reported the incident to the police and has sent personnel to the unit to handle the case, it added, without disclosing further details.

Hepalink cannot confirm the scam's impact on its 2023 financial results, it noted. 

Based on current exchange rates, the amount lost exceeded Hepalinks' CNY85.4 million (USD12 million) net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses in the first nine months of last year.

Founded in 1998, Hepalink leads the global heparin supply chain, covering over 40 countries and regions. It acquired the United States’ SPL Acquisition in 2014 to build a traceable research, development, production, and sales system for heparin and to enter the pancreatin sector. 

Techdow Pharma trades heparin products. Hepalink's overseas revenue accounted for over 90 percent of its total in 2021 and 2022. 

As an anticoagulant drug extracted and processed from pigs' fresh and healthy small intestines, heparin has a variety of uses, including as an anticoagulation and antithrombosis treatment.

Editor: Martin Kadiev