Nifty Pharma rallies 2%; Laurus, Ipca, Aurobindo, Torrent hit record highs

Pharma shares price movement

 

Shares of pharmaceutical companies continued their upward movement, with the Nifty Pharma index hitting a new high at 25,861.50, up 2 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Friday’s intra-day deals. In comparison, the Nifty 50 was up 0.5 per cent at 24,292 at 01:42 PM.

 

In the past month, the Nifty Pharma index outperformed the market by surging 7.4 per cent, as compared to 4.2 per cent rise in the Nifty 50. Thus far in the calendar year 2026, Pharma index surged 14 per cent, as against 6.7 per cent decline in the benchmark index.

 

 

Aurobindo Pharma, Piramal Pharma, Lupin, Ipca Laboratories, Zydus Lifesciences, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Biocon, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical, from the index rallied up to 5 per cent in intra-day deals.

 

Aurobindo Pharma, Ipca Labs, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Laurus Labs and Torrent Pharmaceuticals hit their respective record highs, while Sun Pharma and Zydus Lifesciences touched 52-week highs.   

 

What’s driving pharma stocks?

 

The global pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve amid rising healthcare needs, scientific advancement, pricing pressure, tariff-related uncertainties, evolving regulatory landscape, patent expiries, geopolitical uncertainty and increasing expectations around access and affordability. 

 

As per IQVIA, global medicine spending is expected to reach approximately $2.6 trillion by 2030, growing at a 5-8 per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), driven by a wider use of innovative therapies, particularly in developed markets, and partly offset by loss of exclusivity and increasing adoption of generics and biosimilars.

 

The Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) and pharmaceutical services landscape continues to benefit from innovator demand for reliable, high-quality development and manufacturing partners. Global biopharmaceutical companies are seeking partners with end-to-end capabilities, regulatory track record, cost competitiveness, speed-to-market execution and resilient supply networks. 

 

For Indian companies, the CDMO opportunity is supported by strong chemistry capabilities, manufacturing scale and the ability to serve global customers across development and commercial supply, Dr Reddy’s Labs said in its FY26 annual report.

 

On the guidance, Sun Pharma expects high single-digit consolidated top line growth for the financial year 2026-27 (FY27) based on the company’s current understanding of the regulatory and macro environment. The company in the Q4 earnings conference call said it expect FY27 R&D spend to be 6 per cent to 7 per cent of the sales for the next year.

 

Laurus Labs said the business prospects will remain positive based on increased CDMO Opportunities for Global customers, CMO opportunities for generic companies, expanded business Opportunities for Generics. The transformation of company’s portfolio is well underway, and momentum is building.  The company is making significant investments in novel technologies, scale and strengthening integrated capabilities offerings towards laying foundation for future growth, it added.

 

According to media reports, the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) reached out to Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers through the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) for help in addressing a shortage of a key cancer drug. The medicine at the centre of the shortage is ifosfamide, a chemotherapy drug used to treat several cancers, including testicular cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, and certain lymphomas, NDTV reported.

 

Meanwhile, in the January to March 2026 quarter (Q4FY26); most of the pharma players did well in Europe on the back of new launches & acquisitions besides currency benefits. Growth in India, which stood at 15 per cent to ₹15,285 crore, was driven by increased patient volumes, higher offtake of high-value brands (diabetic), increased penetration of players in tier II-VI towns via MRs and continued traction from chronic therapies. 

 

The US de-grew 6 per cent to ₹14,117 crore as stronger traction from new and exclusivity launches (Lupin), Innovative sales (Sun Pharma) was pulled down by lower sales of cancer drug gRevlimid due to significant competition. EBITDA de-grew 7 per cent YoY due to high US-exclusivity base to ₹11,027 crore and margins stood at 23.2 per cent, ICICI Securities said in its special report.  ============================================  Disclaimer: View and outlook shared on the stock belong to the respective brokerages and are not endorsed by Business Standard. Readers discretion is advised.