Chinese pharmaceutical stocks surge as flu overtakes Covid-19 to become main virus ravaging mainland

Name: China says Covid outbreak has peaked as Lunar New Year travel rush returns in full swing
Uploaded: 2023-03-01T08:00:15.000Z
Duration: 2 min 18 s
Description: China says Covid outbreak has peaked as Lunar New Year travel rush returns in full swing

A buying spree has been spurred by a spike in flu cases, which prompted some primary schools to suspend classes last week

‘It’s a short-term trade and the momentum may not last too long,’ said Dai Ming, of Huichen Asset Management in Shanghai

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Flu medicine produced by Yichang HEC Changjiang Pharmaceutical in China. Photo: Weibo

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 4:00pm, 1 Mar 2023Updated: 4:16pm, 1 Mar 2023

Shares of Chinese drug makers that produce medication for influenza have made strong gains, as the ailment overtakes Covid-19 as the major pandemic ravaging the country.

The Hong Kong-traded stock of Yichang HEC Changjiang Pharmaceutical, which has a 90 per cent market share of the flu medicine oseltamivir in China, jumped 7.1 per cent for its biggest gain in a month on Tuesday, extending an almost 3 per cent advance last week. It dropped back 2.5 per cent to HK$7.90 on Wednesday.

Other licensed makers of oseltamivir and flu vaccines have also been riding the wave. ApicHope Pharmaceutical rose to a record high of 48.69 yuan in Shenzhen this week, while Hualan Biological Bacterin is set for two straight weeks of gains, taking its rally to 10 per cent since February 17.

The buying spree has been spurred by a spike in flu cases in mainland China, which prompted some primary schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang province to suspend classes last week. The latest data from China’s disease control centre shows that flu cases have recently overtaken Covid-19 infections, although exact numbers are unavailable.

“It’s a short-term trade and the momentum may not last too long,” said Dai Ming, a fund manager at Huichen Asset Management in Shanghai. “Flu is a seasonal disease and demand for the relevant drugs is no match for that for Covid, which the country concentrates all the resources on to fight against.”

02:18

China says Covid outbreak has peaked as Lunar New Year travel rush returns in full swing

Oseltamivir has been out of stock in drug stores in big cities including Beijing and in online pharmacies in the last week or so, as people rushed to stockpile the medicine amid signs of a massive outbreak.