CanSino, China’s first drug maker to start human trials for Covid-19 vaccine, soars in Star Market trading debut
- Pharmaceutical giant is first Chinese company to test a Covid-19 vaccine on humans
- Will use funds to build manufacturing base, grow Covid-19 vaccine research
CanSino Biologics, the first Chinese company to test a Covid-19 vaccine on humans, got off to a roaring start on the mainland’s Star Market.
The Tianjin-based pharmaceutical producer soared nearly 88 per cent on Thursday to 391.11 yuan from its offering price, though that was less than the expectation of an at least 200 per cent gain.
“The first-day gain turned out to be smaller than traders expected because of worries about frothy valuations on the overall A-share market,” said Ivan Li, a money manager at Shanghai-based Loyal Wealth Management. “But investors still have confidence in the stock and its vaccines in the pipeline.”
CanSino’s H shares in Hong Kong shed 4.3 per cent to HK$198.8, which represented a 55 per cent discount to the mainland-listed counterparts.
CanSino raised 5.2 billion yuan (US$750 million) by floating 24.8 million shares, making it the second most expensive initial public offering on the mainland, trailing only Beijing Roborock Technology, a robot cleaner maker that began trading on the Star Market in February. Roborock sold its IPO shares at 271.12 yuan apiece.
CanSino’s 4.56 million shares allocated to public investors in an online subscription were nearly 3,000 times oversubscribed.