KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — Pharmaniaga Bhd’s shares on Bursa Malaysia climbed in the early session today following reports that the group is expected to complete its contractual obligation of supplying 12 million Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine doses to the federal government by next month.

As at 9.50am, the counter rose 9.0 sen to RM5.43 with 1.67 million shares changing hands.

In a statement on Wednesday, group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the vaccine had been approved by the World Health Organization and the recognition boosted confidence in the battle against the pandemic.

"The China Food and Drug Administration has recently given emergency approval for the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to be administered to children aged three to 17 and manufacturing of two doses per vial before submitting it to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) for the variation process,” he said.

Zulkarnain said Pharmaniaga would be submitting relevant documents to the NPRA for the variation process soon.

Upon obtaining approval from the agency, it would be able to ramp up its capacity from two million to four million doses a month, he added. — Bernama