Panacea Biotec surges 9% on DCGI's nod to produce Sputnik V vaccine

Shares of Panacea Biotec surged 9 per cent to Rs 411 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Monday after the company announced that it has received a manufacturing license to produce Sputnik V vaccine at its Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) plant. The stock of one of the leading vaccine and pharmaceutical producers in India had hit a 52-week high of Rs 453.70 on May 28, 2021.

"The company announces receipt of manufacturing license from Drugs Controller General (India) for Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 pursuant to its collaboration with Russian Direct Investment Fund (Russia's sovereign wealth fund). The license is a necessary condition for using Sputnik V produced by Panacea Biotec in India," Panacea Biotec said in a press release on Sunday, July 4, 2021.

Sputnik V was registered in India under the emergency use authorization procedure on April 12, 2021 and vaccination against Covid-19 with the Russian vaccine started on May 14, 2021. Sputnik V has been registered in 67 countries globally, covering a total population of over 3.5 billion people.

At 10:25 am, the stock was up 6 per cent at Rs 399 on the BSE as compared to a 0.65 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Trading volumes on the counter nearly doubled with a combined around 647,000 shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.