Hester Biosciences hits new high; zooms 100% in four months

Shares of pharma company Hester Biosciences has rallied 16% to Rs 827, extending its past three months surge on the bourses, after the company launched its PPR (Peste Des Petits Ruminants) vaccine and Goat Pox vaccine in March this year.

The stock hit a new high of Rs 839 on the BSE in intra-day trades and has zoomed 100% from Rs 420 on March 17, 2015. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 3% during the same period.

While announcing its March 2015 quarter results on May 28, 2015, the company said, going further, the launch of large animal vaccines in March 2015, particularly of the PPR vaccine and the commencement of production in Nepal by September 2015 (a delay of 2 months because of the earthquake), would fuel topline growth from this financial year.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has embarked on the PPR eradication program. It has been estimated that the vaccination costs alone for the PPR eradication project would be USD 7.23 billion over a 15-year period, the company added.

The world market for PPR vaccine is slated to be for Rs 300 crore annually. The Indian market is slated to be Rs 40 crore annually, the company meanwhile said.

Till 1216 hours, a combined 43,765 shares changed hands on the counter as against an average sub 20,000 shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on the BSE and NSE.