(Yicai Global) Dec. 20 -- Shares of China Meheco Group hit limit down today after the Chinese drugmaker, which is the China distributor of US biopharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s Covid-19 pill, said that the tablet has not had a big effect on business performance.

Meheco’s stock price [SHA: 600056] closed down 10 percent at CNY20.10 (USD2.88) today. The stock had gained by the exchange-imposed limit on the previous three trading days after the company announced that it had extended its deal with New York-based Pfizer.

Sales of Paxlovid, which is used in the treatment of mild to moderate cases of Covid-19, accounted for less than 1.5 percent of Meheco’s operating revenue in the first three quarters, the Beijing-based drug seller said yesterday, citing preliminary statistics.

Although Paxlovid has been included in China’s vast medical insurance scheme, which grants access to the country’s nationwide network of hospitals and clinics usually at a substantially discounted price, there remain great uncertainties regarding the distribution and use of the drug, and therefore it is predicted that its sales will make up a very small proportion of Meheco’s revenue, it added.

Meheco won the right to market Paxlovid in China in March, shortly after the country approved the import of the drug. This agreement was then extended last week.

Meheco will be responsible for the import and distribution of Paxlovid on the mainland from December 2022 to November 2023, it said on Dec. 14.

Meheco is a unit of state-owned conglomerate China General Technology Holding and is involved in the whole pharmaceutical industrial chain from development to producing to retail.

Editor: Kim Taylor