By Kashish Tandon
(Reuters) -Shares of India’s Glenmark Pharmaceuticals jumped 10% to a record high on Friday, a day after its unit signed a licensing deal with U.S. peer AbbVie for its early-stage blood cancer treatment.
The stock was the top percentage gainer on the Nifty Pharma index, which traded 0.3% higher compared to a 0.8% loss in the benchmark Nifty 50.
AbbVie will get the exclusive rights to develop and commercialise ISB 2001 in North America, Europe, Japan and Greater China, according to the deal. Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI) will receive an upfront payment of $700 million and could earn up to $1.22 billion in additional milestone payments.
“This is possibly the biggest deal by an Indian company in the biotechnology space,” said Shrikant Akolkar, an analyst at brokerage Nuvama.
Nomura expects IGI to ramp up its research and development spending post the deal as “it is now well funded” and added that Glenmark could likely pursue an initial public offering for IGI in the near to medium term.
The deal validates the improved commercial prospects of innovative research and development, Motilal Oswal said. The brokerage raised its target price on the stock to 2,430 rupees from 1,690 rupees – the highest among nine analysts covering the stock, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Analysts, on average, rate the stock “buy”, with the median price target at 1,665 rupees, well below current levels.
Glenmark is the best performer on the 20-member pharma index so far this year, gaining 30% versus a 4.8% decline in the sub-index.
(Additional reporting and writing by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
