China's Brii Biosciences drops as U.S. FDA puts clinical study on hold

Brii Biosciences

13/12/2021 04:23

** Shares of infectious diseases-focused biotechnology group
Brii Biosciences Ltd  2137.HK  fall 14.8% to HK$36.70, the
biggest daily pct decline since Nov. 8
    ** Stock biggest decliner in the Hang Seng Composite Index
 .HSCI  and the fourth biggest decliner on the Hong Kong bourse 
    ** Beijing-based co said it received a notification from the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting to put the
company's phase 1 clinical study, which evaluates BRII-732
safety in healthy volunteers, on hold (https://bit.ly/3lXURcy)
    ** Says the clinical hold on the phase 1 study was requested
by FDA as part of its decision to temporarily hold islatravir
based clinical studies, a drug candidate under development by
Merck & Co  MRK.N , to allow FDA to better understand the safety
profile of the molecule 
    ** Says BRII-732 is a proprietary prodrug of islatravir
developed by the company
    ** The healthcare index  .HSCIH  slips 0.9%, while the Hang
Seng Composite Index  .HSCI  gains 0.9% and the Hang Seng Index
 .HSI  climbs 1%


 (Reporting by Donny Kwok)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com))