(Yicai Global) Dec. 14 -- Shares in Jiangsu Recbio Technology skyrocketed as much as 25.6 percent today after the Chinese vaccine maker said that its Covid-19 vaccine, which is still undergoing clinical trials, has shown better results in conferring immunity against the novel coronavirus than US pharma giant Pfizer’s mRNA jab.

Recbio’s stock price [HKG:2179] closed up 11.1 percent at HKD24.95 (USD3.21). Earlier it hit HKD28.20.

Phase II clinical trials in the Philippines have shown that Recbio’s recombinant protein vaccine ReCOV offers better protection against omicron variants for people who have already received two doses of inactivated vaccines than Pfizer’s Comirnaty, the Taizhou, eastern Jiangsu province-based company said today.

The clinical tests were done on two groups of 300 people who had been inoculated twice with inactivated jabs, it said. One group was then vaccinated with ReCOV and the other with Comirnaty. Results showed that the former group developed more neutralizing antibodies against the omicron strain and in particular the variants BA.5 and BA.2 after 14 days, than the latter group.

ReCOV, which is based on Recbio’s self-developed immunologic adjuvant BFA03, has many advantages, the firm said. It can generate a broad spectrum of neutralizing antibodies and confer immunity for a long time. It is safe, stable, can be transported at room temperature and is easy to mass produce with low production costs, it added.

Recbio’s ReCOV production line is ready and the company is applying to China’s regulatory authorities for permission to take the vaccine to market, it added.

China’s Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly amid an easing of pandemic control measures. The National Health Commission issued a notice today requiring four groups of vulnerable people to receive a second booster shot to better protect them against the virus.

Editor: Kim Taylor