Friday’s intraday trading saw a substantial 5% surge in Natco Pharma shares to Rs 1,569, as the business announced a significant development in its product pipeline. The announcement that Natco Pharma has submitted a product application for a generic version of Novartis’ Tabrecta (capmatinib hydrochloride) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) caused the stock value to soar. Treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) involves the use of this medication.
An important stage in the approval process for generic drugs is the Paragraph IV certification, which Natco Pharma included in their FDA-filed abbreviated new drug application (ANDA). In order to contest the patent protection of a branded medication, one usually uses a Paragraph IV certification. Natco asserts that it is the first to submit a substantially complete ANDA with this certification for capmatinib hydrochloride. If authorized, the corporation hopes to obtain 180 days of exclusive marketing rights for this generic medication, giving it a competitive advantage in the market.
There is a sizable market for the brand-name medication Tabrecta. According to industry estimates, Tabrecta’s sales in the United States for 2023 were USD 126 million, or roughly Rs 1,056 crore at the current exchange rate. Natco Pharma has a strong financial interest to release a generic version of the product so that it can potentially earn a sizable portion of this money.
Natco Pharma’s stock was up 3.5% from the previous close as of 11:00 am, trading at Rs 1,551.4. The stock has done remarkably well in the last year, returning close to 90% so far this year and putting on an amazing rise of more than 150% in the last two years. Strong momentum is also evident in the technical indicators, as the stock is trading above its 10-, 20-, 30-, 50-, 100-, 150-, and 200-day simple moving averages. The stock appears to be in a strong position, but it is not yet overbought, as indicated by the relative strength index (RSI) of 61.1.
Furthermore, there have been changes in the stocks that investors own in Natco Pharma. In the June quarter of 2023, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) had an 11.03% holding in the company; in the same quarter of 2024, their share had grown to 17.45%. Mutual funds (MFs), on the other hand, drastically decreased their investment, going from 9.45% in June 2023 to 2.67% in June 2024.
Overall, the favorable response from the market to Natco Pharma’s ANDA application, along with the company’s solid stock performance and more FII investment, demonstrate the company’s rising stature in the pharmaceutical industry and its calculated attempts to take advantage of the generics market for cancer treatment.
SOURCE :
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
