Swine flu bolsters Indian pharma stocks

Shares of Indian drug firms that make the generic version of Roche's Tamiflu, used to treat H1N1 flu, rose 5-19 per cent on Tuesday as the death toll from the pandemic in the country rose to ten.

Ranbaxy Laboratories, Strides Arcolab and Cipla are raising production of oseltamivir, sold under the brand name Tamiflu, as the number on swine flue cases in the country rose to nearly 1,000 with as many as 96 fresh cases reported across the country yesterday.

Ranbaxy, Strides and Natco Pharma rose 5-19 per cent even as Cipla closed 0.5 per cent lower after rising as much as 3.3 per cent in the day.

While the government's plan to stockpile 20 million dosages of Tamiflu drug will benefit Ranbaxy, Cipla, Strides and unlisted Hetero, analysts expect no significant impact on their earnings.

Ranbaxy, now majority-owned by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, can make available nearly a million oseltamivir capsules in the next few weeks, the company's president Ramesh Adige said in a statement.

Originating in the United States and Mexico in April, the swine flu or H1N1 virus has spread like wildefire across continents and the World Health Organisation says the swine flu is now unstoppable.

WHO raised its pandemic alert to the highest level of six, formally declaring that the widely spreading A/H1N1 influenza has developed into a global pandemic.