Biocon Soars Nearly 10% On Receiving Nod For Covid-19 Drug

Biocon shares jumped nearly 10 per cent on Monday morning after the biopharma major received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to market its novel biologic drug Itolizumab for treating patients having moderate-to-severe Covid-19 complications. Biocon shares soared to an intra-day high of Rs 455, up 9.8 per cent, at opening bell. At 9:52 am, the shares had surrendered a substantial part of their early gains and were trading at Rs 422, higher by Rs 422, or 1.9 per cent, on the BSE.

Biocon received the DCGI's approval to market Itolizumab injection solution in India for treating cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in moderate to severe ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) patients due to COVID-19, the company had said in a regulatory filing on Saturday.

Itolizumab is the first novel biologic therapy to be approved in the world for treating patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 complications.

Itolizumab will be manufactured in the form of an intravenous injection at Biocon's bio-manufacturing facility located at Biocon Park in Bengaluru.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon, said, "As an innovation-led biopharmaceuticals company, I am proud of the successful outcome of the pivotal study we conducted with our novel immuno-modulating anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody, Itolizumab, which has proven to be an efficacious intervention in treating the serious hyper immune response seen with COVID-19. The data is compelling and I am confident that this 'first-in-class' biologic will save lives and help reduce the mortality rate in our country."

The BSE Sensex  was trading at 36,931, higher by 343 points or 0.9 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 10,868, up 100 points or 0.9 per cent at the time.