Morepen Laboratories recovered sharply on Tuesday, following huge buying support on reports that the company will garner Rs 100 crore from 180-day exclusivity granted to its drug Loratidine in the US through Geneva Pharma.

The stock of the domestic pharma firm rose by 3.85% to Rs 24.25 on the BSE in afternoon trades, recovering from a low of Rs 23.30. A huge volume of over 261,000 shares was recorded on the counter till 14:00 IST.

The surge in the scrip is purely attributed to reports that the company is all set to gain from the 180-day marketing exclusivity recently granted to Geneva Pharmaceuticals Inc. for its drug Loratadine in the US. Morepen has an exclusive arrangement with Geneva Pharma and is the sole supplier of bulk Loratadine to it.

Analysts said this was a good development for Morepen. However, they felt that the scrip may not appreciate much from the current levels. It stands fully discounted, according to analysts.

Meanwhile, Morepen said that Geneva (an arm of Novartis AG) has already launched the generic version of Claritin in the US market on 23 January 2003 and the exclusivity will be for six months from the date of launch of the drug. The innovator of the $3.20 million drug, Schering Plough, owns the brand Claritin.

Morepen expects to generate additional revenue of around $20 million (Rs 100 crore) during the period of exclusivity and net profit during this period is expected to get an additional boost of around $10-12 million (Rs 50-60 crore).

Morepen has already received orders worth $10 million after the grant of exclusivity to Geneva Pharma, which will be executed over the next two to three months.

Last month, Morepen said that it has entered into an alliance with German company Analyticon GmbH to market urine analysis reagent strips in India.

The company earlier entered into a marketing joint venture with Italian diagnostic company Menarini. Under the pact, Morepen will market Menarini's glucometer under its over-the-counter arm, Dr Morepen. The glucometers will be marketed under the brand 'Dr Morepen Health' at a price of Rs 3,995 and Rs 4,850.

Incorporated in December 1984, Morepen Laboratories is a professionally-managed, R&D-based company engaged in the manufacture and marketing of a range of healthcare products including generic bulk drugs, formulation dosage forms, consumer care products, speciality products and herbal products. It has three manufacturing facilities at Parwanoo, Baddi and Gurgaon.

For the third quarter ended 31 December 2002, Morepen registered a 49% fall in net profit to Rs 9.06 crore on a 23% rise in net sales to Rs 151 crore.