(Yicai Global) Oct. 9 -- Fosun Pharmaceutical Group’s stock price surged nearly 10 percent this afternoon on the news that a Covid-19 antibody treatment being developed by its US subsidiary has been approved to start Phase One clinical trials in the US.

The Shanghai-based firm’s stock [SHA:600196] was trading up 9.69 percent at CNY53.86 (USD8) apiece as of 2:30 p.m. China time.

California-based Hengenix Biotech will start human testing of its new monoclonal antibody targeted drug soon, the drugmaker said yesterday. Co-developed with Sanyou Biopharmaceuticals and Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech, the medicine will be used to treat Covid-19, acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure caused by the novel coronavirus, it added.

Antibody treatments can help train the body’s immune system to fight the disease. There are no fully human monoclonal antibody targeted drugs for Covid-19 available yet on the market, Fosun Pharma said. It will still take some time for the drug to be approved for sale as biological products for medical treatment take some time to develop, it added.

As of August, Fosun Pharma had invested around CNY15.2 million (USD2.3 million) in the drug’s development.

Editor: Kim Taylor