SHARES in scandal-hit vaccine maker Changsheng Bio-technology Co. slid further Thursday amid growing fears that it will be delisted and as authorities flagged running checks for the sector. Changsheng Bio-technology has been accused of fabricating production and inspection records and selling ineffective vaccines for children. Regulators have ordered the firm to halt production and recall some of its vaccines. Its Shenzhen-listed shares fell 5 percent, the maximum allowed after the bourse hit the company with a “special treatment” risk alert that restricts share price movement and is a step toward a firm being delisted. The stock was suspended from trade Wednesday. Changsheng, whose chairwoman is among 15 people detained by police over the scandal, has previously publicly apologized and flagged that it could face a delisting. It is also the subject of multiple probes. China’s food and drug regulator said late Wednesday it would conduct running checks on production lines at domestic vaccine makers following the scandal. It added the country would punish individuals and companies involved in the scandal and investigate public officials linked to the case. Other Chinese vaccine makers, hit by the fallout from the scandal, extended declines. Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products was down 3.47 percent Thursday while Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products lost 3.16 percent. (SD-Agencies) |