AstraZeneca Pharma India hits fresh record high, up 15% in 8 trading days

Shares of Astrazeneca Pharma India hit fresh record high of Rs 3,900 apeice, in an otherwise weak market, up 5.15 per cent on the BSE on Friday. Woth today's rally, the stock has soared 15.18 per cent in the past eight sessions, as against 0.6 per ent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

At 12:02 pm, the stock of the pharma maker was ruling 4 per cent higher at Rs 3,860 on the BSE, as against 1.25 per cent decline in the Sensex index.

AstraZeneca Plc, the company's parent firm, is expected to release initial data on whether a vaccine can stop people from getting the virus on September 15. The drugmaker has pledged as many as 30 million doses to the UK by the end of the month.

"Two other contenders -- the US’ Moderna Inc. and the US-German partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE -- may also have initial data before a key Food and Drug Administration meeting on virus vaccines scheduled for October 22," said a Bloomberg report quoting Airfinity Ltd, an analytics company that tracks drug trials.

The first results should be enough to "give us a very good idea of where we're heading," Airfinity Chief Executive Officer Rasmus Bech Hansen said. "They are moving faster than one could have anticipated". 

In another development, news agency Reuters reported that AstraZeneca Plc has expanded its agreement with cell therapy firm Oxford Biomedica to mass-produce its Covid-19 potential vaccine, as it looks to scale-up supply ahead of a possible US fast-track approval.

Cambridge-based AstraZeneca's vaccine is among the leading candidates in the global race for a successful vaccine and it has entered late-stage trials in the United States, the company said on August 31, as it targets 3 billion doses of the vaccine, globally, Reuters reported.

During June quarter results of FY21, the company reported net profit of Rs 18.63 crore, down from Rs 21.51 crore reported in the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, profit rose from Rs 9.57 crore logged in quarter ended March 31, 2020. It's revenue from operations stood at Rs 193.57 crore, down from Rs 204.56 crore clocked in June quarter of FY19. The board declared interim dividend of Rs 2 per share for FY21.