China’s CanSinoBIO H1 revenue drops on weaker COVID shot demand
2022.08.29 04:09
FILE PHOTO: A logo of China’s vaccine specialist CanSino Biologics Inc is pictured on the company’s headquarters in Tianjin, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), China August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter//File Photo
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s CanSino Biologics reported a 69.5% drop in revenue for the first six months versus a year ago, joining global and domestic COVID-19 vaccine makers affected by waning demand for their shots.
The decline from 2.06 billion yuan ($299.8 million) to 629.8 million yuan was mainly driven by weaker COVID vaccine demand as growth in global uptake slowed and price changes of CanSinoBIO’s products, the firm said in a company filing published on Sunday.
CanSinoBIO, which sells a one-dose shot in countries including China and Mexico and is seeking approval for an inhaled version of the vaccine, said half-year net profit dropped by 98.7% year-on-year.
Earlier this month, Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) halved its full-year revenue forecast as it does not expect further sales of its COVID shot this year in the United States amid a global supply glut and soft demand. BioNTech reported about a 40% drop in second-quarter revenue and net profit but said its upgraded shots to be used in booster campaigns would increase demand in autumn.
Sino Biopharmaceutical, which holds 15.03% stake in CoronaVac-developer Sinovac Life Sciences, said earlier this month it logged 503.16 million yuan in profits from associates and a joint venture in the first half this year, down over 90% from the same period in 2021.
Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products, which produces a COVID vaccine similar to Sinovac’s and has obtained approval from Indonesia to sell its version of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)’s shot, set aside provisions for asset impairment totalling 470.4 million yuan, citing “a rapid decrease” of its COVID vaccine sales since the second quarter.
($1 = 6.8715 Chinese yuan renminbi)
