Fosun Pharma Leads Hong Kong Healthcare Stocks Higher on Vaccine Optimism

   By Justina Lee 
 

Healthcare stocks are trading higher in Hong Kong, led by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., after it announced a joint venture with German biotechnology company BioNTech SE to manufacture and sell coronavirus vaccines.

Shares of Shanghai-based Fosun Pharma rose as much as 23% to 61.35 Hong Kong dollars Monday morning, nearing a record, after the company said on Sunday it will have a plant in China capable of producing up to a billion doses annually of BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine.

Fosun Pharma's shares were recently trading 17% higher at HK$58.50, bringing its year-to-date gains to 58%.

Gains by the stock and other Hong Kong-listed healthcare shares helped the Hang Seng Healthcare Index rise 2.7%. The broader Hang Seng Index was down 0.4%.

Sinopharm Group Co. advanced 6.4%, after the World Health Organization on Friday approved the company's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use. CanSino Biologics Inc. added 6.1%. Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) Inc., which on Friday said it completed the acquisition of manufacturing facilities in China and Germany, gained 2.7%.

The sector's rise comes amid a resurgence of Covid-19 cases world-wide, with pharmaceutical companies and governments racing to supply sufficient vaccine doses as the coronavirus continues to mutate. Brokerage IG noted that India's Covid-19 cases aren't showing signs of peaking, which would build the case for a nationwide lockdown.

Write to Justina Lee at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 09, 2021 23:51 ET (03:51 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.