Wockhardt Surges 8% As German Regulator Clears Ankaleshwar Plant

Shares of pharmaceutical company Wockhardt surged as much as 8 per cent to hit intraday high of Rs 728 after company post the market hours on Thursday said that its Ankaleshwar manufacturing facility has been cleared Germany's drug regulator.

Mumbai-based Wockhardt in a statement said, "Competent authority, Berlin, Germany has since issued EU GMP Certificate confirming that Company's manufacturing facility at 138, GIDC Estate, Ankaleshwar, Gujarat, complies with the principles and guidelines of Good Manufacturing Practices."

The certificate is valid for three years, Wockhardt said. 

Meanwhile, following today's development, shares of Wockhardt Ltd came in high demand as 4.85 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE compared with an average of 1.87 lakhs shares traded daily in the past two weeks.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had earlier in August 2016 had issued an import alert on Wockhardt's active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) plant in Ankaleshwar. Wockhardt said that it has already initiated steps to address the concerns raised by the US drug regulator. 

Regulatory concerns, particularly related to those to USFDA, has been a big overhang over India pharma companies. The Nifty Pharma index, which is a benchmark for pharma stocks, has suffered 8 per cent loss in the past one year as compared to 9 per cent gain in broader Nifty50 index. 

As of 10:33 a.m., Wockhardt shares traded 6.66 per cent higher at Rs 718, outperforming the Nifty which was up 0.22 per cent.