A generic Lipitor drug released in the U.S. by Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. sent Ranbaxy’s shares up the most in six months while threatening sales for Pfizer, Inc., Lipitor’s previous manufacturer, Bloomberg reports.
Shares of Ranbaxy surged as much as 11 percent in Mumbai trading. The shares traded 4.7 percent higher at 454.85 rupees, the most since May 30, at 11:22 a.m. local time.
“The market is simply relieved to hear that the drug is approved,” Yasuhiro Nakazawa, a healthcare analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg.
Ranbaxy won approval Wednesday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell generic versions of Lipitor. The company, based near New Delhi, will share profit on the first six months’ sales with Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Ranbaxy told Bloomberg. Ranbaxy also said the terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.
“There is something more in this deal than meets the eye,” Priti Arora, an analyst at Kotak Institutional Securities in Mumbai, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. “My feeling is that they allied with Teva as a backup measure in case approval was held back due to its manufacturing issues.”
