Cadila Healthcare in the pink of health

Cadila Healthcare rose 1.2% to Rs 669 at 11:12 IST on BSE after the company secured USFDA approval for initiating Phase I clinical trials of ZYDPLA1 -- a novel next generation orally active, small molecule DPP-4 inhibitor to treat Type 2 diabetes.

The announcement was made during trading hours today, 23 October 2013.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 112.01 points or 0.54% at 20,752.96.

On BSE, 14,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 23,251 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 677.95 and a low of Rs 662.60 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 924.60 on 22 February 2013. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 631 on 20 August 2013.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 22 October 2013, sliding 3.4% compared with the Sensex's 2.97% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 13.42% as against Sensex's 3.5% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 102.37 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

ZYDPLA1 is an orally active, small molecule NCE, discovered and developed by the Zydus Research Centre, the NCE research wing of Cadila Healthcare. Currently, all available DPP-4 inhibitors are dosed once-daily. ZYDPLA1 with a once-a-week dosing regimen, would provide diabetic patients with a more convenient treatment alternative, Cadila Healthcare said in a statement.

Speaking on the latest development, Mr. Pankaj R. Patel, CMD, Cadila Healthcare said: "After a promising start with Lipaglyn, we take another big leap forward in the area of diabetic research and long term management of Type 2 diabetes. The IND approval by USFDA is another major regulatory milestone for us. We believe that ZYDPLA1 holds promise and would take us closer to our mission of reducing the burden of chronic diseases and addressing unmet medical needs in the treatment of diabetes".

The number of diabetics in the world is estimated to be over 360 million. In 2025 nearly half of the world's diabetic population will be from India, China, Brazil, Russia and Turkey. The sales of the DPP-IV inhibitors is expected to peak at almost $14 billion by 2022. Research in the field of anti-diabetic therapy seeks to address the problems of hypoglycemia, GI side effects, lactic acidosis, weight gain, CV risks, edema, potential immunogenicity etc., which pose a major challenge in the treatment of diabetes, Cadila Healthcare said in a statement.

Cadila Healthcare's consolidated net profit rose 0.4% to Rs 195.62 crore on 6% growth in net sales to Rs 1607.45 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q1 June 2012.

Cadila Healthcare is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of healthcare therapies. The company aims to achieve sales of over $3 billion by 2015 and be a research-based pharmaceutical company by 2020.

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