(Yicai Global) Aug. 25 -- Fosun Pharmaceutical Group’s stock closed higher today after the Chinese drugmaker reported a 21 percent increase in first-half revenue from a year earlier.

Fosun Pharmaceutical [SHA: 600196] rose 3.5 percent to close at CNY70.26 (USD10.85), after climbing as much as 5.7 percent earlier in the day. The broader Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7 percent.

Revenue was CNY16.9 billion (USD2.6 billion) in the six months ended June 30, the Shanghai-based company said in an earnings report published late yesterday. Income from its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine amounted to more than CNY500 million (USD77.2 million).

Fosun Pharma said it had “accelerated the development of innovative drugs and clinical development, connected with teams of outstanding scientists, leading technologies and high-value products worldwide."

Net profit before and after deductions was CNY2.5 billion (USD386 million) and CNY1.6 billion, increases of 45 percent and 20 percent, respectively. It did not give a forecast for future performance.

The profit gain was due to the continued optimization of Forsun Pharma’s product structure and new products, significant year-on-year revenue growth for Gland Pharma, and a much better year-on-year performance at its associate Sinopharm Holding, it said.

Covid-19 Vaccine

The company also cited the listing of its injection producer in India and the higher fair value of Covid-19 vaccine developer BioNTech’s financial assets held by Fosun Pharma.

Two days ago the US Food and Drug Administration fully approved the use of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine BNT162b2, jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. It became the first Covid-19 jab fully approved by the FDA for use in the United States.

Prior to the approval, Fosun Pharma, a partner of the vaccine project, had pushed for it to be approved for emergency use in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, and for a special import license approval in Macau, and had vaccinated local residents.

Fosun Pharma would file relevant registration applications with regulatory authorities in Hong Kong and Macau in due course, Chairman Wu Yifang said at the earnings presentation yesterday.

In addition, Fosun Pharma’s subsidiary, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Development, and BioNTech agreed in May to set up a 50-50 joint venture to further roll out localized production of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.

The establishment of the joint venture is still subject to further negotiations and the signing of a final agreement between the two parties, Fosun Pharma said in the financial report.

Editor: Peter Thomas