(Yicai Global) March 21 -- Shares in China Meheco Group surged by the exchange-imposed ceiling today after the China distributor for US pharma giant Pfizer’s new Covid-19 oral antiviral drug said that the first batch of imported medicines had cleared customs and was on its way to the frontline of the country’s latest outbreak of the disease in northeastern China.

Meheco’s share price [SHA:600056] closed up 10 percent at CNY36.59 (USD5.75). Since the firm signed the marketing deal with New York-based Pfizer on March 9, its stock has more than doubled in value.

Vehicles loaded with Paxlovid, which is used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 cases at high risk of progressing to severe conditions, left the Meheco logistics center in Beijing’s Daxing district yesterday morning for Changchun in Jilin province, the Beijing-based firm said on its WeChat account yesterday.

It is the first such batch to enter China since the drug was added to the country’s Covid-19 diagnosis and treatment guidelines on March 15. The shipment arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport from Belgium late in the night on March 16 and cleared customs on March 18, Meheco said.

The marketing of Paxlovid, which is the first Covid-19 drug developed by a foreign firm to be approved by China, will account for only a small part of Meheco’s total business this year and will not have a major bearing on its financial performance, the firm said earlier, adding that the product’s use and sales conditions are uncertain and much depends on the Covid-19 control measures that are adopted.

Five Chinese companies, including Huahai Pharmaceutical and Fosun Pharmaceutical Group, were authorized to produce nirmatrelvir, one of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in the Pfizer pill, by the United Nations-based Medicine Patent Pool on March 17.

Editor: Kim Taylor