Nifty Pharma index up 11% from May's low

At 12:05 pm; the Nifty Pharma index was up 1.3% at 9,703, surging 11% from 8,758 hit on May 29, 2017

Shares of pharmaceutical companies were back in focus with Nifty Pharma index rallying more than 10% from its May’s low, while Nifty 50 index remain unchanged during the same period.

In the last three days, Aurobindo Pharma, Cadila Healthcare and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries received  the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval for their respective drugs, while Dr Reddy’s Laboratories received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US health regulator for its Miryalaguda plant.

At 12:05 pm; the Nifty Pharma index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 1.3% at 9,703. The index surged 11% from its recent low of 8,758 on May 29, 2017 and 12.4% from its 52-week low of 8,635 hit on same day in intra-day trade.

Aurobindo Pharma, Cadila Healthcare and Divi’s Laboratories have rallied more than 15% during the period, while Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Cipla and Lupin were gained in the range of 7% to 12%.

Between May 15 and May 29, the Nifty Pharma index had tanked 14.6% after most the pharma companies reported disappointing set of March quarter results due to continuing increased competition and the challenging pricing environment in US, the biggest market. On comparison, the Nifty 50 index was down 1.6%.

Aurobindo Pharma, the largest gainer today, up 6% to Rs 638 after the company said it has received final approval from the USFDA to manufacture Sevelamer Carbonate oral suspension, 0.8 gm and 2.4 gm. Sevelamer Carbonate oral suspension, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Genzyme's Renvela oral suspension. The product is being launched immediately.

Sevelamer Carbonate oral suspension is indicated for the control of serum phosphorus in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis. The approved product has an estimated market size of US$ 140 million for the twelve months ending April 2017 according to IMS.

Cadila Healthcare was up 1.6% to Rs 537 after receiving approval from the US health regulator for anti-retroviral drug.

"Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the USFDA to market Acyclovir injection USP strengths of 500 mg/vial and 1,000 mg/vial," the pharma company said in its filing.

Acyclov for Injection USP which caters to the anti-viral segment will be produced at the group's formulations manufacturing facility at Moraiya in Ahmedabad.

Company	29/05/2017	LTP	%
Aurobindo Pharma	513.70	638.00	24.2
Cadila Health.	456.60	537.20	17.7
Divi's Lab.	569.50	661.00	16.1
Piramal Enterp.	2647.05	2998.95	13.3
Dr Reddy's Labs	2424.85	2711.95	11.8
Sun Pharma.Inds.	502.85	546.15	8.6
Cipla	504.15	545.80	8.3
Lupin	1109.35	1189.85	7.3
Glaxosmit Pharma	2330.20	2447.00	5.0
Glenmark Pharma.	611.40	641.25	4.9
LTP: Last traded price on BSE at 12:03 p.m