FAST NEWS: Simcere Pharma Surges After Applying for New Drug Clinical Trials

The latest: Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. (2096.HK) said on Thursday its self-developed anti-tumor drug candidates SIM0237 and SIM0348 were accepted by the Center For Drug Evaluation of China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), but have yet to obtain approval for clinical trials.

Looking up: The company’s shares have surged 42.1% over the last eight trading through Thursday, though it said it isn’t aware of any reasons for the unusual price and volume movements.

Take Note: The two drugs have not yet been approved for clinical trials. Even if they are approved, they will still need to undergo several years of tests before they can be officially launched, meaning any potential commercialization is still a long way off.

Digging Deeper: Founded in 1995, Simcere Pharmaceutical develops, makes and sells oncology and cardiovascular drugs. The company was listed in the U.S. in 2007, but delisted in 2013, before re-listing in Hong Kong in 2020. The company currently has six drugs on the market and nearly 60 more in its pipeline. In the first half of the year, its revenue rose 27.3% year-on-year to 2.7 billion yuan ($370 million) on the back of rapid revenue growth from its core product Sanbexin. But its net profit fell 88.8% to 61.92 million yuan, mainly due to a loss of approximately 331 million in the fair value of its investment portfolio and a one-time pre-tax gain of nearly 400 million yuan from the sale of its stake in Simgene Group Ltd. last year, compared to no similar gain in the same period of this year.

Market Reaction: Simcere Pharma’s shares fell 3.4% to HK$9.20 by the midday break on Friday, and now trade in the middle of their 52-week price range. 

Translation by Jony Ho

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