Pharma stocks advance; Ipca Labs, Cadila Healthcare soar up to 19%

Given India is relatively better placed to scale up and due to lower outbreak of Covid-19, India may benefit by supplying more to US and EU, analysts say.

Shares of pharma and healthcare companies rallied in an otherwise volatile market on Friday. Ipca Laboratories jumped as much as 19 per cent to Rs 1,500 apiece on the BSE after news reports said the company's Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for Chloroquine has been approved by the USFDA. Chloroquine, which is being used to treat malaria, may help treat coronavirus, say some reports.

At 09:47 am, Ipca Labs was trading 11.6 per cent higher at Rs 1,406.65 apiece on the BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 51 points or 0.18 per cent lower at 28,237.50 levels. Other