Summary:
HYDERABAD: The city’s standing as India’s pharma capital has got another boost with Aurobindo Pharma , Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) and Divis Laboratories now ruling the roost when it comes to the exclusive top 5 club of listed pharma companies in India in terms of market capitalisation.The other two firms in the big 5 league by market cap, based on closing prices on stock exchanges on Thursday, are from Mumbai: Sun Pharmaceutical and Cipla. Aurobindo has also managed to sustain its performance with low investments in research & development as compared to other big pharma players, an analyst pointed out. Incidentally, the three Hyderabad companies and two Mumbai companies had a market cap of over Rs 40,000 crore as per Thursday’s closing prices on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), leaving behind other biggies like Mumbai-based Lupin (Rs 38,273 crore-BSE mcap) Cadila Healthcare (Rs 35,784 crore-BSE), Torrent Pharma (Rs 30,232 crore-BSE) and Bengaluru-based biopharma player Biocon (Rs 38,430 crore-BSE). What’s more, Aurobindo Pharma, founded by K Nityananda Reddy and PV Ramprasad Reddy, has emerged as the biggest listed pharma company from Hyderabad, occupying second spot in terms of market cap (over Rs 43,950 crore) and unseating Dr Reddy’s Laboratories , which enjoyed a long stint as only pharma player from Hyderabad in the big league.Divis too wears the big cap, finds place among the top 5Based on Thursday’s closing prices, DRL, which was set up by K Anji Reddy and is now run by his family, stood third in the top 5 with a market cap of around Rs 43,119 crore (NSE). On the other hand, DRL has found itself mired in regulatory issues over the past few years and is only just coming out of the worst of times,” explained industry veteran VS Vasudevan..