Drugmaker Wockhardt saw a 20 per cent spike in its share price on the BSE, closing at ₹552 on Wednesday.

Though the company offered no reason for the sudden increase in its share price, marketmen said there is talk of possible relief on the regulatory front. Various plants of Wockhardt are currently under intense scrutiny of regulators in the US and the UK. There are also reports of trouble back home in Maharashtra.

Wockhardt’s plants in Waluj, Chikalthana and Nani Daman are under the US food and drug regulator’s scanner, with products from these plants being banned from being sold in the US market. Interestingly, marketmen point out that other drug companies that face US regulatory scrutiny also saw a spike in share price on Wednesday. For instance, Ranbaxy’s shares closed up 10 per cent at ₹409 on the BSE. Strides Arcolab closed up nearly 10 per cent at ₹423 on the BSE.

Ranbaxy at present has four of its plants in India debarred by the US regulator from selling drugs in the US, while Strides faces US regulatory scrutiny at a plant under Agila Specialities, acquired by Mylan. With no clear-cut reasons behind the spike in share prices, one analyst observed that Ranbaxy may have surged on recent observations coming from the US FDA that they did not find anything amiss in generically similar versions of cholesterol drug Lipitor.

comment COMMENT NOW