(Yicai) March 13 -- Shares of Innovent Biologics surged after the Chinese biomedicine firm said to Yicai today that it will relocate its Maryland lab to California in response to a report by Biospace that claimed the company has axed its entire research team at its American headquarters.

Innovent [HKG: 1801] closed 8.1 percent higher at HKD43.85 (5.60).

The maker of drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases is making good progress overseas, the Suzhou-based company said to Yicai. However, it did not say anything about staff relocation or the planned timeline.

Biospace, a pharmaceutical industry media outlet, reported yesterday that Innovent has eliminated the research team in Rockville, Maryland, and will close the facility in the near future. It said that layoffs took place late last month, citing employees' LinkedIn posts. The lab was mostly studying antibody-drug conjugates, drugs to treat cancer.

The firm's website still shows information about the Maryland branch. "Innovent USA will be home to about 100 employees in the near term, the team will mostly consist of lab-based scientists and technical staff, and other personnel in business and administrative functions to support operations." The last updates of vacancies are from a year ago when the company was hiring a principal programmer and a lab head.

In the first half of last year, Innovent posted a loss of CNY139 million (USD19.3 million), narrowing about 85 percent from a year ago, while revenue jumped by 21 percent to CNY2.7 billion (USD375.4 million), according to public information.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Emmi Laine