Ranbaxy's troubled plants in India could see a turnaround as Sun Pharma has experience in doing so.
Encouraged by its 'record-setting' growth of 67 per cent in the domestic pharmaceutical market last year, pharmaceutical firm Mankind on Monday announced expansion plans into the South India formulations market.
In a major relaxation of foreign investment rules in the pharma sector, a special group set up under the finance ministry has suggested it could consider permitting up to 49 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) in the automatic route for brownfield investments in case the company's control remained in Indian hands.
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Corporate India is starting to step up its capital expenditure plans amid government incentives and signs of rising demand, company executives and analysts have indicated. This coincides with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently citing a double-digit growth in private capital expenditure. Healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, along with increasing capacity utilisation and improving business sentiment, are contributing to a favourable environment for sustained growth in private sector investments, the RBI said in its policy last week.
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Jefferies, IIFL, and JM Financial - none of which were in the top five last year - have now claimed the top spots in the league tables for equity capital markets (ECM) during the first nine months of calendar year 2023 (CY23), a period characterised by small- and mid-sized transactions. This shift marks a significant change, with these firms outperforming the bulge-bracket investment banks. According to data provided by Refinitiv, Jefferies leads the domestic ECM market, having handled share sales worth $2.3 billion, representing 12.4 per cent of the total volume of $18.4 billion for ECM transactions.
The index is currently trading at 149 per cent of its historical P/B valuation, surpassing its previous peak of 125 per cent made in 2020-21.
India emerging as a big global destination for contract manufacturing, unlike R&D outsourcing.
While the chemicals ministry, which drafted the policy, is the administrative ministry for the pharma industry, quality regulation and marketing approvals come under the purview of the health ministry. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who heads the GoM, asked health and chemicals secretaries to sort out the issues and get back to the GoM at the earliest.
A Pharmaceutical company was on Sunday gutted in a fire in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government on Tuesday said it is considering forming a venture capital fund of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) to promote research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical sector.
Among the Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Nestle, ITC and Sun Pharma were the major gainers. Power Grid, NTPC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.
'The BJP was supporting him from behind in order to bring down the Congress government.'
RIL is grappling with other priorities -- sliding oil prices, shrinking refining margins and a battle with the Anil Ambani group over the supply of gas. The plan was to build an integrated pharma company in two to three years, on the lines of large domestic majors such as Ranbaxy's or Dr Reddy's Laboratories. Instead, the plan has been modified to being a start-up bulk drug manufacturing company that will launch six bulk drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients by 2010.
South-east Asian countries are emerging as preferable destination for India's pharma companies to expand their business as they share similar patient population and disease profile and moreover, have a conducive environment for their operations like easy market approach without any regulatory uncertainty, the survey of Indian pharma firms highlighted.
Swedish firm Astra Pharmaceutical will buy out the remaining less than 10 per cent stake in its local arm Astrazeneca Pharma India by next year following approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
Reduction in customs duty on certain bulk drugs used in making life saving drugs to 5% is a positive for companies having product pipeline catering to these segments.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Jubilant Organosys, Orchid Chemicals, Aurobindo Pharma and Shasun Chemicals and Drugs are among those who have borrowed either to expand locally or to acquire companies abroad, but are now struggling to repay the dues, analysts say. Some of the companies' debt now exceeds their market capitalisation, as local and global investors sold stocks on concerns over slowdown and falling revenues. A few drug makers may be forced to sell assets to repay debt.
The Promed group manufactures and delivers branded as well as generic pharmaceutical formulations to Russia, CIS, south-east Asian countries, the UK and EU.
According to Amitabh Arora, chief representative, Think London, "The agency will help Indian companies enter business agreements with 100-odd biotech and pharma companies and about 50 contract research organisations based in London besides arranging private equity from London-based PE firms.
Revenues and earnings to improve for companies with low forex liabilities and no forward cover.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services whose director is the lottery magnate Santiago Martin is the top purchaser of electoral bonds having purchased bonds worth Rs 1,368, according to data uploaded by the Election Commission of India on its website on Thursday.
Among the Sensex shares, Infosys rose the most by 1.37 per cent, followed by Larsen & Toubro (0.90 per cent), and Wipro (0.83 per cent). HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC, TCS, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints and Titan were among the lead gainers.
Looking at the behavior of the Indian stock markets in the last one month, one gets a feeling that it has again proved to be the proverbial conundrum, something extremely difficult to predict in the short term.
Indian pharmaceutical companies, which always wanted a big share in the global copycat drug market, are betting high on the oral contraceptive (OC) market in America.
The benchmark Nifty and Sensex could see another 8-10 per cent from the current levels, said HDFC Securities in its outlook for equity markets in 2024. The brokerage said that the market movement in the next year will not be linear, and there will be more volatility. When asked about the market reaction to the General Elections in 2024, Dhiraj Relli, managing director and CEO of HDFC Securities, said more than the outcome of the elections, the market movement in the next three to four months will decide the market trajectory post elections.
ITC was the biggest loser from the Sensex pack, sliding 2.04 per cent, followed by Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel. On the other hand, Titan, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
Dinesh Thakur is famous for exposing Ranbaxy safety problems
Acquisition to boost its generics business in developed markets.
Multinational drug manufacturers such as Pfizer and DSM are increasingly getting into contract manufacturing alliances with emerging bulk drug makers in the country, bypassing established players such as Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's.
Post Ranbaxy episode, domestic pharma companies may face frequent inspections and deeper scrutiny.
Industry must take strong collective action to protect the reputation it enjoys in global markets, says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
Indian IT service providers are increasing their exposure in the healthcare and pharma segments. Multi-million dollar deals in this space by IT firms over the past three-four months only buttress this trend. Healthcare outsourcing has moved away from just undertaking medical transcription and business process outsourcing (BPO) work to core functions such as drug discovery, testing, research and development.
Sun Pharma emerged as the biggest gainer from the Sensex pack, climbing 2.09 per cent, followed by ITC, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Infosys, L&T, JSW Steel, Reliance Industries and Kotak Mahindra Bank. UltraTech Cement, Maruti, HDFC Bank, Wipro, State Bank of India and NTPC were among the laggards.
The commerce ministry has sought a review of foreign direct investment policy in the pharmaceutical sector, in the light of recent takeovers of domestic companies by multinationals.
In a massive setback to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed his petition challenging his arrest in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam, saying there was no contravention of legal provisions.