After opening the day in the green, share markets in India witnessed positive trading activity throughout the day but gave away most gains in the final hours of the trading window. Sectoral indices traded on a mixed note, with stocks in the pharma sector and stocks in the consumer durables sector, leading the gains.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 40 points (up 0.1%) and the NSE Nifty closed up by 20 points (up 0.2%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 0.1%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up by 0.5%.
The rupee was trading at Rs 67.41 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 75.69 at the time of writing.
Asian stock markets finished in mixed. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite was down by 0.5%. The Nikkei 225 was up by 0.5%. Meanwhile, European markets were trading positively. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.7%, The DAX, was up 0.5% while the CAC 40 was up by 0.1%
In news from stocks in the pharma sector. Alembic Pharma share price was in focus today and went up by over 20% in the day's trade. The surge came as the pharma company received approval from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its anti-depressant drug Bupropion Hydrochloride Tablets.
The drug is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD), Wellbutrin tablets of GlaxoSmithKline LLC., and is indicated is indicated for the treatment of a major depressive disorder.
Fulphila is the first FDA-approved biosimilar to Bupropion Hydrochloride Tablets have an estimated market size of USD 37 million for twelve months ending December 2017. According to IMS sales data, Neulasta had annual sales of around US$4.2 billion in the US.
Alembic now has a total of 72 ANDA approvals which includes 64 final approvals and 8 tentative approvals from the US drug regulator.
Following the news, Alembic Pharma share price ended the day up by 19.9%.
Domestic Pharma Market in a Slow Lane
While this comes as a positive news for the company, the broader pharma market is still in a lull.
Even as pharma companies reel under the regulatory crackdown in the largest export market in the US, there has been no succor from the domestic markets. The growth in the Indian pharmaceutical market almost halved to 5.5% in 2017. Only 3,932 brands were launched in 2017. This is the lowest since 2013.
The leading therapy segments in terms of brand launches were dermatology, anti-infectives, cardiology, and gastroenterology. Anti-diabetics have also been growing in double-digits for the past five years. However, with the government bringing a number of essential drugs under price control, prescription drugs are witnessing sluggish growth. Therefore, pharma companies are now focusing on the over-the-counter (OTC) medicines.
As per the Nicholas Hall 2017 report, the OTC market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 9% and reach US$ 6.5 billion by 2026. So, medication such as dermatology, vitamins, and pain & analgesics have gained center stage, where most brand launches are taking place.
Recently, Lupin forayed into the OTC segment after it re-launched Softovac, its more than three-decades-old brand. Torrent Pharma has acquired Unichem Lab's domestic business which has popular OTC brands such as Unienzyme. The consumer products arm of Piramal Enterprises acquired four OTC brands from Pfizer last year; and recently, it acquired a gastro-intestinal brand, Digeplex, from Shreya Lifesciences.
Thus, while pricing controls keep the operating environment tough in the domestic market, pharma companies with strong brands in the OTC category are better placed to ride the slowdown.
Moving on to news from stocks in the engineering sector. L&T share price was in focus after the company's construction arm bagged multiple orders totaling Rs 22.1 billion.
L&T Construction's water and effluent treatment business won orders worth Rs 20 billion, which is a major turnkey order from Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), Government of Madhya Pradesh.
The order is for the execution of Narmada - Kshipra multipurpose project to lift 15 cumecs of water from the Omkareshwar reservoir, of which 10 cumecs will help bring 30,000 Hectares of land under irrigation.
L&T said the company has secured an order from a government client for the design and construction of 1,125 residential towers of G+3 floors in Visakhapatnam, Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts in Andhra Pradesh.
The company added that it won another order Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) or the execution of an Integrated Effluent Treatment Plant (IETP) for Visakh refinery modernization project at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
In addition, L&T's heavy civil infrastructure business has also won orders worth Rs 1.6 billion
L&T share price ended the day flat.
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