Cadila Healthcare to make antibody detection test for COVID-19; shares advance

Shares of the drug maker rose 2.24% to Rs 328.15 after the company said it will manufacture India's first indigenous antibody test for COVID-19.

Cadila Healthcare on 10 May 2020 said it will manufacture "Covid Kavach Elisa" - the first indigenously developed IgG ELISA test for antibody detection developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)‐National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune. The diagonostic testing kits will be manufactured through a tech transfer by Cadila Healthcare at Ahmedabad.

The test was validated at two sites in Mumbai and has been found to have high sensitivity and specificity. In addition, the test will have the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours. Moreover, ELISA based testing is easily possible even at district level. After development at ICMR‐NIV, Pune, technology has been transferred to Zydus Cadila for mass scale production. The test is named as "Covid Kavach Elisa".

During trading hours on Friday, 8 May 2020, Cadila Healthcare announced that it is launching Enzalutamide, a highly effective drug for the treatment of prostate cancer, under the brand name of 'Obnyx' in India. In a bid to significantly reduce treatment cost by almost 70%, the drug is priced at Rs 5,995 (weekly therapy) reducing the monthly treatment cost to less than Rs 27,000. The current maximum retail price (MRP) of Enzalutamide drug ranges from Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 for a monthly therapy which poses a huge financial burden for the elderly patients as they need to continue the therapy for a long period of time. This price reduction will benefit many prostate cancer patients to adhere to the treatment.

The company had also stated that one of the important aspects of prostate cancer treatment is reducing the effect of androgens (a male reproductive hormone) on prostate gland. Many patients require Androgen Receptor targeted therapies like Enzalutamide which works by blocking the effects of androgen to stop the growth and spread of prostate cancer cells. It hepls patients with significant liver, heart and kidney diseases, which is very common in the elderly men.

On a consolidated basis, the drug maker's net profit tanked 26.54% to Rs 375.18 crore on a 0.52% rise in net sales to Rs 3,534.50 crore in Q3 December 2019 Q3 December 2018.

Cadila Healthcare is a pharmaceutical company based in India.

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