KUALA LUMPUR: Duopharma Biotech Bhd has confirmed it will procure and supply to the Health Ministry the Covid-19 vaccine known as Sputnik V developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

In a statement today, Duopharma said its wholly-owned Duopharma (M) Sdn Bhd (DMSB) had signed a term sheet agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to secure 6.4 million doses of Sputnik V.

RDIF is the appointed marketing agent for Gamaleya for all international markets.

RDIF has established partnerships in India, China and South Korea to manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine in order to cope with the global growing demand for this vaccine.

Duopharma said supplies of the Sputnik V vaccine could be from any of RDIF's partners, subject to approval by Malaysia's National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).

Duopharma group managing director Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar said its latest initiative fully supports the Covid-19 National Vaccination Plan.

"Our investment in vaccine fill and finish facilities and cold chain distribution synchronously aligns both with the government's recently announced aim to develop in-country vaccines in the long term to reduce dependency on other countries," he said.

Besides that, Duopharma said together with RDIF and Gamaleya Institute, was exploring further collaboration to enhance its capabilities in research and development, technology transfer, local manufacturing, and supply of the vaccine to other Asean countries.

Subsequently, DMSB has also entered into a term sheet agreement with the MOH to supply 6.4 million doses to vaccinate 3.2 million Malaysians.

ThecSputnik V vaccine will be supplied in phases this year.

DMSB will also provide warehousing, logistics, ground support and other services to the government hospitals and clinics.

Leonard said the company had put in place an existing inert human vaccine fill and finish line at its plant in Klang, and it was ready to be used.

"We are also positioning ourselves to upgrade our facility to ensure the equipment will accommodate the localisation of vaccine manufacturing in Malaysia, which consequently can increase vaccine accessibility, reduce dependency on importation, and ensure long-term self-sufficiency of vaccines for the country.

"This is in line with our mission to become a leading healthcare group providing quality and innovative solutions," he said.

Duopharma Biotech Bhd (Trading Buy)

• DPHARMA – which is involved in the pharmaceutical sector – is poised to benefit from the impending rollout of Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccination program after the government has picked the company to undertake the fill-and-finish processes for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines in the country.

• Meanwhile, the government intends to finalise the national vaccination plan (scheduled to start in February) this Thursday, which would map out a comprehensive plan on the implementation mechanism including the transportation and storage of the vaccines.

• The Group – which has delivered rising annual profits for the past three years with an increase from RM27m in FY16 to RM55m in FY19 – posted net earnings of RM42.4m (-2% YoY) in the nine-month period ended September 2020.

• Going forward, consensus is projecting DPHARMA to register net profit of RM70m in FY December 2021 and RM80m in FY December 2022, translating to forward PERs of 32.1x this year and 28.1x next year.

• On the chart, the ongoing share price correction – which has fallen 27% from a high of RM4.38 in November last year to close at RM3.18 yesterday – offers an opportunity for investors to accumulate DPHARMA shares on weakness.

• Technically speaking, the stock’s uptrend (started from a trough of RM1.61 in mid-July last year) remains intact with the 50% Fibonacci retracement line providing immediate downside support.

• On the back of an anticipated share price reversal from the oversold RSI territory, the stock could rebound to our resistance thresholds of RM3.62 (R1; 14% upside potential) and RM3.90 (R2; 23% upside potential).

• We have pegged our stop loss price at RM2.85 (or 10% downside risk).

"be greedy when others are fearful"

rileks la. profit taking saje. besok naik lagi.

"TA Securities Research raised Tiong Nam’s target price to 88 sen/share (from 56 sen previously) while maintaining its “buy” rating after factoring in the near-term earnings risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the new business opportunity in vaccine storage and distribution."

after lunch fly to 0.85. buy now!

Highest volume of all time. Monday sure gap up 0.3 TP 0.6.

highest volume since feb 2017. that time shoot to 0.6. history will repeat.

operators collect at .285. Just follow big shark

buy now. after lunch shoot to 40

today so quiet here.

break 4.00 today. trust me

buy now!

panic buying. lol

panic selling now. lol

half million buy at 3:57

big investor is coming. started to go up.