Wockhardt stock dips 9% on USFDA notice

The stock of Wockhardt Ltd lost nine per cent on Monday after the drug maker received another warning from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over manufacturing at its Waluj plant in Maharashtra.

On Saturday, Wockhardt had said with reference to the earlier announcement dated May 24 regarding an import alert from the US drug regulator on the Waluj facility, the company had received a warning letter, which listed the observations made during an inspection at the facility.

The stock fell more than 12 per cent intra day before closing at Rs 808.3 on BSE on Monday, down 9.12 per cent from the previous close, while the benchmark Sensex gained 0.05 per cent to 20,159.12. With Monday's closing price, the market cap of Wockhardt has fallen 60 per cent to Rs 8,856 crore from Rs 21,979 crore, the highest ever market cap (March) the company made since April 2012.

Early this month, the UK medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had also issued an import alert on Wockhardt’s export-oriented Waluj unit.

According to Habil Khorakiwala, chairman of Wockhardt, there will be an annual loss of Rs 100 crore due to the MHRA alert on the Waluj plant. According to him, the US FDA import alert, made in May, will cause an annual loss of $100 million (Rs 600 crore).