The shares of pharma companies jumped on Friday, with the Nifty Pharma index surging over 5 percent on the back of a positive trend in the space. The sector has rallied over 50 percent in 2020, in a time when most sectors witnessed massive selloff.

Share Market Live

NSE

Stocks like Laurus Labs, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Apollo Hospitals from the index hit their respective record highs. Meanwhile, Lupin, Stride Pharma, hit their respective 52-week highs in trade today.

On the pharma index, Dr Reddy's surged over 8 percent to hit a new high of Rs 5,300 after the company settled patent litigation for Revlimid with Celgene, a Bristol Myers Squibb company, which allowed the firm to sell Lenalidomide in the US after March 2022. In the past three days, the stock has gained 15 percent.

Global brokerage Credit Suisse said that the Revlimid generic cashflows should be significant for the company (over $700 million). The brokerage maintained an 'Outperform' rating and raised the target price to Rs 5,750 from Rs 5,100 per share earlier.

Lupin and Cipla also jumped around 7 percent in intraday deals. In a positive development for both the firms, Perrigo has announced a voluntary recall of its albuterol sulphate inhalation aerosols in the US over concerns that some units may not dispense properly due to clogging issues.

Macquarie sees a 4-6 percent upside risk to its FY21 EPS estimates for Lupin and Cipla. It added that if Perrigo’s relaunch is delayed, there is a further opportunity for both firms to rise more.

Among other stocks, Cadila Health, Divi's Labs, Sun Pharma, Alkem Labs, and Aurobindo Pharma also advanced between 2 percent to 4.5 percent.