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Cancer Drug Approval To Partner Lifts Dishman Pharma Shares To Record High

Dishman Pharma shares locked at 20% upper circuit on US drug regulator nod for cancer drug

Tablets are arranged for a photograph. (Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)
Tablets are arranged for a photograph. (Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)

Shares of Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals Ltd. rose to a record after its American partner Tesaro, Inc. received U.S. drug regulator’s nod for ovarian cancer drug Zejula.

Dishman Pharma is the contract manufacturing partner for niraparib, the generic version of Zejula. The U.S. commercial launch of the drug is planned for next month, according to Tesaro’s website.

Shares of Dishman Pharma rose 20 percent to hit the upper circuit at Rs 278.70.

According to Kishor Bagri, Vice President-Equity Sales at research firm Dolat Capital, the drug’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) will be produced by Dishman Pharma’s plant in Bavla, Gujarat. Bagri estimates the market size of the drug to be around $2 billion over three to four years. “One of the three to four drugs in late phase-III trails has got approval and will be a very big boost for earnings. This will be a game changer for the company.”

The U.S. FDA approval for Unit-9 Bavla plant will be the next milestone. We expect the revenues from this molecule to Dishman can be anywhere between $40 million and $80 million. Our current estimates do not include any earnings as of now from the commercialisation of niraparib. 
Kishor Bagri, Vice President-Equity Sales, Dolat Capital
Cancer Drug Approval To Partner Lifts Dishman Pharma Shares To Record High