76% cut in cancer drugs? Mkts are surely cheering this stock

Anti-cancer drugs just got less expensive for million in India, and the stock markets too cheered this news in morning trade today.

Shares of drugmaker Cipla gained 3.1 percent to Rs 327.35 after it slashed the price of some its cance drugs by as much as 76 percent. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs 329 and low of Rs 318.80. The total volume of shares traded at the BSE is 119,881.

[caption id=“attachment_298176” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Shares of drugmaker Cipla gained 3.1 percent to Rs 327.35 after it slashed the price of some its cance drugs by as much as 76 percent. Reuters”]  [/caption]

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Cipla cut the price of its generic version of Bayer’s cancer drug Nexavar by 75 percent, nearly two months after India allowed another drugmaker to make a cut-rate version of the drug over Bayer’s objections. The move is sure to trigger a price war in the already competitive pharma industry.

The price of ‘Soranib’, used for treating kidney cancer, has been cut by 76 percent to Rs 1,710 ‘for a month’s therapy’, from Rs6,990, Cipla said in a statement.

Brain cancer drug ‘Temoside’ in 250 mg strength would be available at Rs5,000 against Rs20,250 earlier, While lung cancer drug ‘Gefticip 250 mg’ in packs of 30 tablets is now priced at Rs 4,250 against Rs 10,200.

“The move is expected to trigger a sharp reaction from other players in the 1,500-crore cancer drug industry and pose a serious challenge to multinationals who sell patented, expensive drugs and Indian companies whose generic drugs are cheaper but not as cheap as Cipla’s,” reported the Economic Times today.

In March, India stripped Bayer of its exclusive rights to sell Nexavar, a treatment for kidney and liver cancer, granting Natco Pharma a licence to sell the generic drug at Rs 8,880 for a monthly dose. Bayer sells the branded Nexavar at Rs 284,428 a month. That decision was seen as setting a precedent that could extend to other treatments, including modern HIV/AIDS drugs, in a major blow to global pharmaceutical firms.

But this is not the first a pharma company that has been forced to rethink their strategy in India. In March, Swiss pharma giants Roche had announced that they intended sell cut-price versions of two of its blockbuster cancer drugs in India.

Cipla said it will sell Nexavar at Rs 6,840 for a monthly dose.

Cipla, the number two drugmaker by market share in India, does not expect the price cut to hit its revenues as the products have low volumes.

“There are less number of patients for these products. Hence, we want to make the drugs available to more patients,” Hamied said. Even generic drug prices are beyond the reach of millions of sufferers of cancer and other diseases in India, experts say.

Even brokerage firm CLSA upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “underperform”, maintaining its 12-month price target at Rs 360. The brokerage said it expects “strong” operating performance from Lexapro, an anxiety and depression drug, and a weaker rupee. CLSA said nasal spray Dymista will also boost earnings as US sales ramp up. The brokerage also calls Cipla’s valuations “reasonable” after recent sharp falls.

With inputs from Agencies