(Yicai Global) March 19 -- Shares of Chinese drug maker Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, the sole license holder to produce the Avigan generic drug in the country, soared as the Chinese government recommended the inclusion of favilavir into the Covid-19's diagnosis and treatment portfolio.

Hisun Pharma [SHA:600267] hit the daily 10 percent price ceiling this morning to stop trading at CNY15.68 (USD2.20), even as the overall Shanghai Composite Index fell about 2 percent. Its stocks also streaked at opening by the maximum allowed under bourse rules to CNY14.25 yesterday.

Excessive transaction orders likewise halted trading of shares of favilavir's developer Fujifilm on Japan's stock market yesterday.

Developed by the Tokyo-based company's Toyama Chemical unit, favilavir, a broad spectrum anti-influenza drug that selectively and potently inhibits the ribonucleic acid-dependent RNA polymerase of RNA viruses, was approved for sale in Japan in March 2014 under the name Avigan, The drug was used to treat new and recurrent influenza before it was also administered against the Ebola virus and became a part of Japan's strategic national medicine chest.

Considering its safety, clear effectiveness and availability, the ministry has officially recommended favilavir in China's medical suite for Covid-19, urging its inclusion into the diagnosis and treatment scheme as soon as possible, Zhang Xinmin, director of the Ministry of Science and Technology's National Center for Biotechnology Development, said at a March 17 press briefing.

Hisun Pharma and Fujifilm signed an exclusive patent licensing agreement in June 2016, under which the first will research, develop, make and sell anti-flu drugs that contain favilavir in China, but it did not receive a license for its production in the country until Feb. 15. The firm has splashed out about CNY40 million (USD5.7 million) on the favilavir project to date.

Editor: Ben Armour