HK Stock Market Move | IMMUNOTECH-B(06978) rose over 22%, domestic innovative drug approval process expected to accelerate, company advances product layout.

IMMUNOTECH-B (06978) soared by more than 22%, as of the time of writing, it was up by 19.38% to HK$1.91, with a turnover of HK$873,200. On the news front, on October 24th, the National Medical Products Administration issued a notice on providing front-end services to varieties of innovative drugs and those confirmed through communication to be eligible for priority review and approval programs and conditional approval programs. Starting from November 1, 2024, front-end services will be provided for the listing permit applications of innovative drugs and varieties eligible for priority review and approval programs and conditional approval programs confirmed through communication. Industry experts believe that this policy is expected to accelerate the approval process for innovative drugs, allowing qualified drugs to enter the market faster, shorten the time for innovative drugs to go public, meet clinical needs, improve patient welfare, and encourage domestic innovative drug companies to increase R&D investment and promote domestic medical innovation. Previously, IMMUNOTECH-B released its performance for the six months ending on June 30, 2024. The group achieved other income of RMB 6.526 million, an increase of 17.9% year-on-year. The announcement stated that the group's R&D expenses increased by about 22.6% from approximately RMB 74.3 million for the six months ending on June 30, 2023 to approximately RMB 91.1 million for the six months ending on June 30, 2024, mainly due to rising contract costs during the reporting period. The group plans to fully promote the application, production, and quality verification of the EAL II phase clinical trials to accelerate registration and obtain the required data, while also advancing future commercial layout.