NO SINOPHARM BOOST FOR DUOPHARMA
But Kanger inches up in late trading on UAE vaccine supply news
SHARES of Duopharma Biotech Bhd failed to rally yesterday despite being a direct beneficiary of the government’s announcement last Friday to add Sinopharm to its list of approved Covid-19 vaccines.
However, Kanger International Bhd, another direct beneficiary, jumped more than seven per cent in a late rally.
The shares of Duopharma, which ended on Friday six sen, or 1.97 per cent, lower at RM2.98, opened at RM3 before starting a downtrend to settle seven sen, or 2.35 per cent, lower at RM2.91 at the midday break.
The stock ended the day eight sen, or 2.68 per cent, lower at RM2.90 for a market capitalisation of RM2.05 billion.
An analyst said the fear of a new wave of Covid-19 infections might have outweighed the positive news.
By comparison, shares of
Kanger spent most of the day in the red zone until the final 50 minutes of trading.
The stock dropped to a low of 6.5 sen as early as 9.25am but with 45 minutes left to the trading day, it hit an intraday high of 7.5 sen before closing half a sen, or 7.14 per cent, higher at 7.5 sen for a market capitalisation of RM209.71 million.
Kanger was also Bursa Malaysia’s third most actively traded stock with 209.74 million shares.
Analysts said its late rally was boosted by its announcement of a deal to buy Sinopharm vaccine from a company in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) through its subsidiary, Kanger Medical International Sdn Bhd, in partnership with Sparmak Medical Equipment Trading LLC.
The company plans to buy five million vaccine doses with deliveries commencing by the end of this month at the earliest.
Earlier this year, Sinopharm entered into a joint venture with UAE-based G42 Medications Trading LLC to produce its Covid-19 vaccine in the kingdom under the Hayat-Vax brand.
Kanger said it had also been authorised by G42 to be the product registration holder and distributor of the Hayat-Vax vaccine
in Malaysia.
It has submitted applications to obtain the required approvals from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency for the Hayat-Vax vaccine to be used in Malaysia.
Last Friday, Health directorgeneral Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced that the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine had been granted conditional approval for use in Malaysia.
Duopharma has the rights to distribute Sinopharm in the country while Kanger has signed an initial agreement with the Sabah government to procure and import the same vaccine.