Biocon scales 52-week high

Biocon surged 4.93% to Rs 412 at 12:31 IST on BSE after the company said it has entered into a licensing & collaboration agreement with Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the development of a range of small interfering RNA based novel therapeutics.

The announcement was made during trading hours today, 18 December 2013.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 237.50 points or 1.15% at 20,849.64.

On BSE, so far 1.62 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 65,064 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 414 so far during the day, which is a 52-week high for the counter. The stock hit a low of Rs 394 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 255 on 4 March 2013.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 17 December 2013, advancing 5.59% compared with the Sensex's 1.04% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, jumping 21.49% as against Sensex's 4.08% rise.

The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 100 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

The collaboration will enable Biocon to co-develop, manufacture & commercialize QPI-1007, a novel small interfering RNA (siRNA) drug candidate for ophthalmic conditions, for India and other key markets, Biocon and Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Quark) said in a combined statement.

Biocon will have access to Quark's innovative and proprietary siRNA technology platform that can be leveraged for the development of novel therapeutics for various unmet medical needs.

Commenting on the development, Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson & MD, Biocon said, "We are very excited to partner with Quark to develop novel and promising siRNA therapeutics. Quark is the world leader in this technology and our joint development efforts on QPI-1007, targeting ocular neuroprotection aims at providing relief to several patients suffering from serious ophthalmic conditions. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to develop and introduce innovative therapeutics to India to meet the unmet medical needs. We hope to use this technology for developing several other novel therapeutics".

Daniel Zurr, Ph.D., CEO, QuarkPharma said, "We are very pleased to collaborate with Biocon, a pioneer in biopharmaceuticals. It is the only Indian company to develop several difficult to make biologics and biosimilars and has provided affordable healthcare solutions for the patients in India and other markets. We believe siRNA is going to make a very important impact in the field of pharmaceuticals discovery and development. We are hopeful that this collaboration will position Biocon as the leading siRNA company in India and as an international player in this new drug category".

An expert team of scientists from Quark and Biocon will jointly work on the development of QPI-1007, and the additional novel pipeline, leveraging the siRNA innovative technology, the statement said.

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the world leader in novel RNAi discovery and development, has the largest clinical-stage siRNA pipeline in the industry. The company's fully integrated drug development platform spans therapeutic target identification to drug development. The company is headquartered in Fremont, California and operates research and development facilities in Boulder, Colorado and Ness-Ziona, Israel.

Biocon's consolidated net profit rose 13.9% to Rs 102.15 crore on 23.9% growth in net sales to Rs 734.21 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.

Established in 1978, Biocon is India's largest and Asia's leading biotechnology company with a strategic focus on biopharmaceuticals and research services. It is a fully integrated, innovation-driven biopharma enterprise offering affordable solutions for chronic diseases to patients worldwide.

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