Natco Pharma plunges as Cipla cuts cancer drug price

Natco Pharma has plunged over 5% at Rs 395 after Cipla cut the price of its generic version of Bayer's cancer drug Nexavar by 75% to Rs 6,840 for a monthly dose, much lower than Rs 8,880 which the company charges for the same drug.

In March, the Indian government has allowed Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma to make and sell a patented cancer drug at a fraction of the price charged by Germany's Bayer AG. Bayer sells the branded Nexavar at Rs 2.84 lakh a month. Nexavar, a medicine used for treating liver and kidney cancer.

The Natco Pharma stock had rallied 47% to Rs 437, its lifetime high after the company granted compulsory licence for Nexavar on March 12. A combined 52,283 shares have changed hands on the counter so far on both the exchanges.