Lupin shares trade 3% higher; nears 52-week high after USFDA's approval

Shares of pharmaceutical major Lupin surged 3.5% higher in early trade on Friday to hit an intraday high of ₹1,238.50 apiece on the BSE, a day after the company received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Canagliflozin tablets. The company’s stock is closer to its 52-week high of ₹1,239.90, touched on November 22 this year.

The scrip opened at ₹1,223.95, up 2.31%, as against the previous closing price of ₹1,239.95. At 11:45 am, the share price of the company was trading 3.43% higher at ₹1,237. The company's market capitalisation stood at ₹56,330.19 crore, with 67,587 shares exchanging hands on the BSE as against the two-week average of 0.63 lakh shares. The company touched a 52-week low of ₹628.10 on March 31, 2023. In the past one month, three months and one year, the counter has given 6.06%, 13.66% and 72.20% in returns, respectively.

The drug will be manufactured at Lupin’s Pithampura plant in India, says the company.

According to the company, Canagliflozin is a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, which acts as an adjunct to diet, improves glycemic control in Type-II diabetes, reduces adverse cardiovascular failure in Type-II diabetes, reduces the risk of end-stage kidney disease, doubling of serum creatinine, cardiovascular death, and hospitalization for heart failure in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy with albuminuria.

Earlier this week, the company received USFDA approval for Pitavastatin Tablets, which are an adjunct to diet to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

In the July to September quarter, the company reported a consolidated net profit of ₹489.7 crore in the July to September quarter of FY24, witnessing a growth of 277.6% year-on-year as against ₹129.7 crore in the same period last year.

The company's revenue from operations in the Q2 of FY24, stood at ₹5,038.6 crore, up 21.5% YoY as against ₹4,145.5 crore in the same period last year. The company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) surged by 104.7% to ₹958.2 crore, as against ₹468 crore in the same period last year.

In September this year, the pharma major acquired five legacy brands in strategic therapy areas—gastroenterology, urology and anti-infectives from Italy-based Menarini Group.

Analysts at research firm Geojit earlier said that positive results from new product launches across geographies and better product mix will ensure healthy long-term growth. "New launches in the US, such as Darunavir and gSpiriva, are gaining momentum. A strong pipeline of products of Vereniciline, Glucagen, Risperidone, etc. will drive growth in the near term. Recent approvals for Tolvaptan and Xyway are expected to support business performance in 2H24. We expect growth momentum to continue on the back of a branded portfolio and new product launches. Moreover, improvement in the API business, owing to revival of demand, will further support business growth," says the brokerage firm.