By Clarence Leong

Shares of three Chinese drugmakers rose following news they will be among 27 companies globally to help make cheaper versions of Merck & Co.'s Covid-19 pill for distribution in low- and middle-income countries.

BrightGene Bio-Medical Technology Co. hit the maximum 20% daily rise on Shanghai's science- and tech-focused STAR board, while Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.'s A-shares rose as much as 10% on Friday. Fosun Pharma's H-shares jumped 13% in early trading but have since pared gains to trade 3.5% higher.

Viva Biotech Holdings, whose unit Zhejiang Langhua Pharmaceutical Co. was also part of the deal, surged as much as 37% in Hong Kong was recently 16% higher.

The United Nations-backed public-health organization Medicines Patent Pool said Thursday that it had signed agreements with 27 Asia- and Africa-based generic manufacturers to produce versions of Merck's oral Covid-19 antiviral drug molnupiravir to be made available in more than 100 countries.

Fosun Pharma and BrightGene will produce raw ingredients for molnupiravir and manufacture the finished drug, while Langhua Pharmaceutical will produce the raw ingredients only.

Other Asia-based companies that are part of the deal include Indonesian pharmaceutical Kimia Farma, which was last up 3.4%, and South Korea's Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., which added 1.2%. Another Korean drugmaker, Celltrion Pharm Inc., rose as much as 5.5% before reversing course in morning trade.

Merck earlier this week said it will allocate up to 3 million courses of molnupiravir to Unicef in the first half of 2022 for distribution in more than 100 low- and middle-income countries, pending regulatory authorizations.

The drug has been cleared for use in the U.S. In a study done before the Omicron variant emerged, Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP found their pill to be 30% effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization and death.


Write to Clarence Leong at clarence.leong@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-20-22 2350ET