Shares of the country's leading drug maker - Cipla - rose as much as 1.85 per cent yto hit record high of Rs 997.20 on the BSE a day after it got approval from drug regulator to import Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine. "Cipla Limited is supporting Moderna, Inc. with the regulatory approval and importation of vaccines to be donated to India. At this stage, there is no definitive agreement on commercial supplies," Cipla said in a statement.
Cipla received clearance to import Moderna vaccines within 24 hours of its application, due to the government's revised policy on accelerated approvals for foreign vaccines. It had taken Sputnik two months for the same approval.
Moderna has the highest efficacy rate of 94 per cent compared to Sputnik's 91 per cent, Covaxin's 77.8 per cent and Covishield's efficacy of 74 per cent.
Details of a rollout plan are not out yet. It is not clear how many doses will be available in India and when. Sources say for now, Cipla is only looking at receiving donated vaccines; commercial agreements are still being processed.
Cipla shares have so far this year surged 22 per cent compared with 10 per cent gain in the Sensex.
As of 10:35 am, Cipla was trading marginally lower at Rs 977.50.
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