(Yicai) April 11 -- Shares of Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise jumped by the daily limit after the Chinese maker of rapid tests for infectious diseases said its nine-valent human papillomavirus vaccine performed as expected in phase-three clinical trials.

Shanghai-listed Wantai [SHA: 603392] closed up 10 percent at CNY74.16 (USD10) today.

The in-vitro diagnostics company will further analyze the results and complete a report, the Beijing-based firm announced yesterday. Moreover, Wantai will prepare an application for drug registration and initiate communication with the National Medical Products Administration, it added.

The firm is a pioneer in the field as it launched a bivalent HPV vaccine in May 2020, marking China's first homegrown vaccine that aims to prevent cervical cancer. The new nine-valent product, which protects the receiver from more strains of the virus, was tested at five domestic trial sites.

Following initial success, Wantai's vaccine sales began to decline after Merck Sharp and Dohme expanded the target population of its nine-valent jab to a range of nine to 45-year-olds in August 2022. Wantai's total net profit dropped by 74 percent last year from the year before and its revenue slipped by 51 percent.

Wantai's vaccine business earned CNY4 billion (USD540 million) in revenue last year, accounting for 72 percent of the company's total, according to its annual report which did not separately disclose its HPV vaccine sales.

The market has new entrants as after Wantai, another domestic player called Walvax Biotechnology developed a bivalent HPV vaccine that was launched in March 2022.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine