COVID-19 vaccine developer gets STAR listing

CanSino Biologics, which is testing a COVID-19 vaccine on human subjects, surged 87 percent on its first trading day on the Shanghai STAR Market on Thursday.

The company's shares closed at 393.11 yuan (US$56.20) in its STAR debut, with an intraday high of 477 yuan. Its market value reached 97.3 billion yuan after the market closed on Thursday, ranking it No. 6 in terms of valuation on the Nasdaq-style innovation board.

Founded in Tianjin in 2009, CanSino has more than 450 employees, one approved vaccine for the Ebola virus and 16 vaccine candidates in the product pipeline, according to the company’s website. 

CanSino is a “new star” in the global vaccine development sector with high growth potentially, according to Great Wall Securities. 

In 2018 and 2019, CanSino lost 138 million yuan and 157 million yuan, respectively.

STAR Market, founded a year ago, is the first major board to accept unprofitable firms in the domestic capital market.