Cipla share price touched a 52-week high of Rs 988.80, gaining 2.5 percent intraday, following reports after the pharma major had filed an application with the Drugs Controller General of India for permission to import US drug maker Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.
The firm submitted its application to the drugs regulator on June 28, sources told CNBC TV-18. DCGI is likely to take up the application soon and may even grant a quick permission, they said.
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Cipla, however, said that there was no confirmatory or final agreement on COVID-19 vaccine import yet. "The company is seeking clarity and guidance on factors such as pricing, quantity and indemnity clause," Cipla told CNBC TV-18.
Cipla had earlier sought indemnification, exemptions from price capping, bridging trials and basic customs duty waiver from the government. Similar requests for indemnity and exemption from bridging trials have been made by another US major Pfizer as well.
The two-shot Moderna regime is around 90 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 95 percent effective against severe disease.
The Moderna vaccine was developed in collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health using messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology.
This vaccine has been widely used in countries such as Canada, United States and the United Kingdom under emergency use authorisations granted by these countries and the World Health Organisation.
At 1513 hours, Cipla was quoting at Rs 987.35, up Rs 24.30, or 2.52 percent on the NSE.
