FAST NEWS: CanSino Holds Low Revenue Hopes for Inhaled Covid Booster

The latest: CanSino Biologics Inc. (6185.HK; 688185.SH) said Thursday its inhaled recombinant Covid-19 vaccine booster recently began to be administered in 13 cities in Shanghai and Jiangsu province. But it added it doesn’t expect the product to give a significant boost to its revenue based on the current situation in China.

Looking up: The company’s daily operations were normal at the time of the announcement, which was only provided in Chinese to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Take Note: The company said it would record an asset impairment provision of 526 million yuan ($72 million) against inventory from January to September this year due to a significant decline in demand for Covid vaccines this year. It added that move will reduce its net profit by 457 million yuan in 2022.

Digging Deeper: In September, CanSino announced that its inhaled recombinant Covid booster vaccine received emergency use authorization from the Chinese National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). The vaccine not only stimulates humoral and cellular immunity, but also induces mucosal immunity against Covid without an injection, offering advantages in terms of efficacy and convenience. The company’s Hong Kong shares tripled over the last eight trading days through Wednesday and its Shanghai-listed A-shares doubled over the same period, as investors held out big hopes for the new booster amid China’s indications that it would maintain its “zero Covid” policy.

Market Reaction: CanSino’s Hong Kong shares plunged 26.5% to close at HK$103.60 by the midday break on Thursday, trading at the lower end of their 52-week range. Even after the sell-off, they are still roughly double their level from just before the recent run-up. It’s A-shares fell a more modest 7.9% to 233.58 yuan.

Translation by Jony Ho

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