KUALA LUMPUR – Pharmaniaga Bhd, one of the most actively traded stocks this morning, saw its share price slip following the discontinuation of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine from China.
Pharmaniaga signed a contract to supply about 12 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the government, and has to complete the delivery by November.
However, due to the worsening pandemic situation, delivery of the vaccine will be expedited, said Pharmaniaga managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope on Wednesday.
He said the pharmaceutical company has already delivered 11.5 million doses, or 93% of the promised supply – comprising 3.6 million doses through “fill and finish” manufacturing, as well as 7.9 million doses of the imported finished product.
Health Minister Dr Adham Baba had yesterday said Malaysia will stop administering the Sinovac vaccine once its existing supply has finished, as the government has a sufficient number of other vaccines for its immunisation programme.
Henceforth, he added, Malaysia’s vaccination drive will be largely anchored by the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine.
As at 10.33am, Pharmaniaga’s share price eased 14 sen to 90 sen, with 61.08 million shares transacted. – Bernama, July 16, 2021
