Divi's Labs Shares Slide After Novartis' Entresto Loses Patent Lawsuit

Divi's Laboratories Ltd. shares fell during early trade on Monday after MSN Pharmaceuticals Ltd. won a patent lawsuit against Novartis' heart failure drug Entresto in the US.

Novartis cannot block drugmaker MSN from launching a generic version of its blockbuster drug Entresto before its patent expires late next year, a US federal judge ruled on Friday, as per a Reuters report. Entresto is a $7.8 billion drug for Novartis.

The ruling will allow MSN to launch a generic version in the US after July 15, 2025.

Divi's Labs makes active pharmaceutical ingredients for Entresto for Novartis, which contributes nearly 8% to Hyderabad-based drugmaker's revenue.

Novartis told the court that MSN may receive US Food and Drug Administration approval for the generic as soon as July 16 and launch it soon after. The generic would cut into the US market for Swiss-based Novartis' best-selling drug, the Reuters report said.

The company had convinced a US federal appeals court in January to halt MSN's launch of its generic until July in a separate patent case.

Divi's Labs share price fell over 4% intraday to Rs 6,545 apiece. The scrip was trading 3.6% lower by 9:45 a.m. The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.2%.

The stock has risen 47% in the last 12 months and 10% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 4.6 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 42.

Out of the 31 analysts tracking the company, 14 have a 'buy' rating on the stock, seven recommend a 'hold' and 10 suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price target implies a potential downside of 3%.