On Tuesday, shares of Bajaj Healthcare's soared 20 percent to a new high of Rs 863.95 on the BSE after the firm announced that it moved the Indian Patent Office for a licence to manufacture and supply the Covid-19 drug Baricitinib (API and formulation).

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The Mumbai-based drugmaker approached the Indian Patent Office after its request for the grant of voluntary licence was turned down by the patentee Incyte Corporation and its exclusive licence holder, the American pharma giant Eli Lilly.

Currently, Eli Lilly and Company has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the distribution and emergency use of Baricitinib. It is to be used in combination with Remdesivir in hospitalised adult and pediatric patients aged more than two years with suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), Bajaj Healthcare said in the statement.

Bajaj Healthcare had approached Eli Lilly & Company on two occasions, to sign the voluntary license for manufacturing and supply of Baricitinib. BHL assured them, about manufacturing high-quality products at an affordable price for the Indian patient population.

Eli Lilly & Company declined the applications on both the occasion saying that it is challenging for them to sign voluntary licensing agreements with all the Indian companies who have requested for the same.

"When all the attempts to get the voluntary license from the Patentee were futile, BHL moved the Indian Patent Office, requesting to grant a compulsory licence for manufacture and supply of Covid-19 Drug Baricitinib, so that it can supply the essential medicine in this pandemic situation in India," the company said.

Bajaj Healthcare Limited a leading manufacturer of APIs, Intermediates and Formulations was established in 1993. It specialises in the manufacturing of Amino Acids, Intermediates, API, formulations & Nutraceuticals.