Dr Reddy's slips 11% as US court prevents selling of Opioid treatment drug

Shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories have dipped 11% to Rs 2,070 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in early morning trade after the drug maker said that the preliminary injunction orders issued on Friday by a US court against the company on the launch of generic Suboxone, a sublingual film product indicated for treatment of opioid dependence. On the BSE, the stock slipped 9% to Rs 2,115 in intra-day trade so far.

Dr Reddy’s announced its intent to appeal the decision made by the US District Court for the District of New Jersey in a preliminary injunction hearing with respect to further sales and commercialization of the company’s Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Film within the United States.

Dr. Reddy's had announced the receipt of the approval, on June 15, 2018 by one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Film, 2 mg/0.5 mg, 4 mg/1 mg, 8 mg/2 mg, and 12 mg/3 mg, therapeutic equivalent generic version of Suboxone® (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual film, in the United States market.

With sales of around $1.86 billion annually, Suboxone was one of the key near-term launches lined up by Dr Reddy's this year with other products being generic NuvaRing and generic Copaxone among others.

At 09:25 am; the stock was trading 7.4% lower at Rs 2,145 on the BSE and NSE, as compared to 0.03% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 443,121 shares changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE so far.