Bajaj Healthcare zooms 20% as Co seeks compulsory licence for Baricitinib

The company has moved the Indian Patent Office requesting to grant a compulsory license for manufacturing & supply of Covid-19 drug "Baricitinib" (API and formulation)

Shares of Bajaj Healthcare zoomed 20 per cent and hit a new high of Rs 863.95 on the BSE in intra-day deal on Tuesday after the company announced that it has moved the Indian Patent Office requesting to grant a compulsory license for manufacturing & supply of Covid-19 drug “Baricitinib” (API and formulation). Bajaj Healthcare is a leading manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), intermediates, and formulations.

At 10:40 am, the stock was up 13 per cent at Rs 813.95 on the BSE, as compared to 0.29 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped over 10-fold with 393,000 shares changing hands so far against an average sub 35,000 shares traded in the past two weeks on the BSE.

Currently, Eli Lilly and company has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the distribution and emergency use of “Baricitinib” to be used in combination with remdesivir in hospitalized adult and pediatric patients aged more than two years with suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID-19 requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), Bajaj Healthcare said in a statement.

EUA permits the emergency use of baricitinib, in combination with remdesivir, for treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID-19 in hospitalized adults and paediatric patients above two years of age requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or ECMO.

Bajaj Healthcare approached Eli Lilly & Company on two occasions, to sign the voluntary license for manufacturing and supply of Covid-19 Drug Baricitinib. BHL assured them, about manufacturing high-quality product at an affordable price for the Indian patient population. Eli Lilly & Company declined the applications on both the occasion, citing the reason that it is really challenging for them to sign voluntary licensing agreements with all the Indian companies who have requested for the same.

When all the attempts to get the voluntary license from the Patentee were futile, BHL moved to Indian Patent Office, requesting to grant compulsory licence for manufacture and supply of Covid-19 Drug Baricitinib, so that it can supply the essential medicine in this pandemic situation in India, the company said.

Bajaj Healhcare recently announced the launch of APIs and formulations for ‘Favipiravir’ an Antiviral, ‘Ivermectin’an anti-parasitic drugs used for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid 19 disease and Posaconazole API, a triazole antifungal agent used for the treatment of Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) infection in Covid-19 patients.