Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed Fosun Pharma says it has sought approval from Beijing for its coronavirus test kits
- Awaiting emergency approval from State Drug Administration, chairman says
- Fosun Pharma’s kit expected to ease burden of confirming cases
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, a Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed mainland Chinese health care group, said it has applied for emergency approval from Beijing for a newly developed test kit that can be used to confirm cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
The company, a subsidiary of Fosun International, one of China’s biggest conglomerates, said the kit can detect the new coronavirus in two hours. “Automated testing can reduce the risk of operator infection, reduce the risk of cross-contamination in the laboratory and improve testing efficiency,” Chen Qiyu, Fosun Pharma’s chairman, said.
“We are awaiting emergency approval from the State Drug Administration,” he said.
Founded in 1995, Fosun Pharma produces genetic medicines, traditional Chinese medicines, diagnostic products, reagents and medical equipment.
China is facing a shortage of the reagents, substances or mixtures used in chemical analysis, needed to confirm Covid-19 cases. Fosun Pharma’s test kit will ease the burden of confirming the cases.
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The new coronavirus has sickened more than 60,000 people and killed more than 1,300 people in China. Its hospitals are overwhelmed and medical supplies are running low.
Guo Guangchang, the chairman of parent company Fosun International, has said Fosun Pharma was preparing to cooperate with leading international biotechnology companies to develop and produce a pneumonia vaccine.
Having obtained the virus genome sequence, Fosun Pharma is expected to work out a vaccine as soon as possible, and then rapidly produce it on a large scale, he said in the article on Fosun International’s website, published at the end of January.
Meanwhile, Fosun Pharma’s Chen said the company’s ambulance making unit, Beijing Beiling, was manufacturing negative-pressure ambulances for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Since January 21, Beiling staff had worked overtime to complete modification work on about 40 negative-pressure ambulances.
In Hong Kong, Fosun Pharma’s stock fell 1.1 per cent to HK$22.5 on Thursday, but has risen 7.9 per cent this month. Its shares in Shanghai fell 1.9 per cent to 26.72 yuan.
