Covid Spike Has Not Stopped Production, Drugmakers in North China Hotspot Say
Lin Zhiyin
DATE:  Jan 08 2021
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Covid Spike Has Not Stopped Production, Drugmakers in North China Hotspot Say Covid Spike Has Not Stopped Production, Drugmakers in North China Hotspot Say

(Yicai Global) Jan. 8 -- Drug manufacturers in the capital of China’s northern Hebei province, which is testing its entire population for the coronavirus after a recent wave of infections, have denied rumors of production stoppages.

Yiling Pharmaceutical told Yicai Global that output is normal after a rumor circulated online yesterday, claiming to cite an emergency notice by the drugmaker, that the city of Shijiazhuang had announced ‘a state of war’ over the outbreak and ordered all businesses to shutter, with the firm warning that its stocks of Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese medicine approved to treat Covid-19 in China, were running low.

Yiling Pharma earned about CNY2 billion (USD313 million) from selling Lianhua Qingwen in the first half of last year, accounting for 45 percent of its total revenue, up from 29 percent in 2019.

Shares of Yiling Pharma [SHE: 002603] closed 6 percent higher today at CNY30.30 (USD4.68) each, after earlier surging as much as 8.5 percent.

Hebei Changshan Biochemical Pharmaceutical also said it was operating as usual. After falling up to 3 percent, its stock price [SHE: 300255] ended little changed, up 0.3 percent at CNY5.92.

The residential area where another big drugmaker is located is in lockdown, however, an insider told Yicai Global, adding that workers with special occupations, including those in healthcare, drug development and power generation, are still allowed to work.

Shijiazhuang had 83 confirmed Covid-19 cases from Jan. 2 to Jan. 6, the day it began citywide nucleic acid tests for all 11 million residents.

The city’s pharmaceutical sector contributes more than 70 percent of the gross industrial output of Hebei’s healthcare- and drug-related sectors. Five local firms -- Yiling Pharma, Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group, North China Pharmaceutical, Shijiazhuang No. 4 Pharmaceutical, and Shineway Pharmaceutical Group -- were included in a list of China’s top 100 drugmakers in 2019.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Ben Armour

Follow Yicai Global on
Keywords:   Shijiazhuang,Pharmaceutical Companies