VIGONVITA-B (02630) retreated nearly 7%, following a significant surge of almost 11% yesterday. As of the time of writing, the stock was down 6.89%, trading at HKD 101.4, with a turnover of HKD 11.0993 million.

On January 26, the official WeChat account of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published an article stating that research teams led by Professors Xiao Gengfu/Zhang Leike and Professor Shan Chao, in collaboration with the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Dr. Hu Tianwen from VIGONVITA Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd., had published significant research findings in an international journal.

The research confirmed that the oral nucleoside drug VV116 exhibits significant antiviral activity against the Nipah virus, offering new hope for the prevention and treatment of this highly lethal emerging infectious disease.

According to an article on VIGONVITA's official WeChat account, the company's VV116 is an oral nucleoside drug with broad-spectrum antiviral potential. Its indication for SARS-CoV-2 infection has already been approved for marketing in China (brand name:民得维®) and Uzbekistan (brand name: Mindvy®).

Regarding the development of the Nipah virus indication, industry expert Li Changcheng analyzed that if proven effective, pharmaceutical companies have the possibility to expand the drug's usage scope, thereby bringing greater commercial rights and benefits.

Expanding indications based on an existing drug incurs the lowest cost and yields the highest returns. Pharmaceutical companies would need to conduct efficacy trials, but toxicity tests and others would hardly need to be repeated.

However, it is noteworthy that while the theory of nucleoside drugs inhibiting the Nipah virus has some foundational support, these viruses actually exist as different strains. The extent of this drug's effectiveness against the specific virus strain in the current Indian outbreak still requires clinical verification.