Morepen Labs zooms 8% on USFDA nod to market anti-allergy drug

NEW DELHI: Shares of Morepen Laboratories soared 8 per cent in early trade on Monday as the drug firm said that it received approval from the US health regulator to market a generic anti-allergy drug in America.

The counter surged to a high of Rs. 56.90 against the previous close of Rs. 52.65 on the National Stock Exchange.
Morepen sells the product in India under the Fexopen brand –Fexofenadine Hydrochloride, and the product is the generic version of anti-allergy drug Allegra, produced by Sanofi Aventis.

The approval from the US Food and Drug Administration provides an imminent boost to Morepen’s export business as Fexofenadine is a well-established anti-allergy drug boasting a market share of 700 MT. The second-generation antihistamine drug is widely used for tackling allergy symptoms and hay fever, reports said.

Morepen has entered into a collaboration for regular supplies of Fexofenadine to one of its top customers in the US, an entity with which the Indian firm has had business relations for over 20 years, reports on Friday said.
The company has already supplied validation quantities, and the regular commercial supplies would start after the approval of validation batches.

Morepen reported a 37.55 per cent on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs. 37.36 crore for the quarter ended on September 30, 2021, driven primarily by healthy sales. The company posted a net profit of Rs. 27.16 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The consolidated total income stood at Rs. 398.16 crore for the quarter under consideration. It was Rs. 340.12 crore for the same period a year ago.