Glenmark arm, Emcure, three other pharma cos line up Rs 7,000 cr IPOs

Amidst the raging second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and many fearing a third wave, the healthcare sector is in the limelight for the second consecutive year as several pharma and life sciences companies are lined up to tap the equity markets through IPOs over the next few months, according to investment bankers.

Five such companies which have firmed up their initial public offering (IPO) plans are Glenmark Lifesciences, a fully-owned arm of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, the citybased bulk drugs firm Supriya Lifesciences, drug formulations firm Windlass Biotech, Bain Capitalbacked Emcure Pharma and CX Partners-funded Veeda Clinical Research. According to investment-bankers, they are planning to mop up over Rs 7,000 crore in primary share sales.

While the IPO street was the busiest in FY'21 with the best ever performance after the pandemic scare had ebbed, pharma stocks have been one of the best performers throughout the year when Sensex and Nifty scaled new highs.

For instance, Arti Pharama gave over 501% in returns in FY21, Granuels rallied 201%, J&B Chem gained 145%, Aurobindo Pharma just doubled the returns, Divi's rose 104%, Ipca Labs returned 97% and Ajanta Pharma gave 72% in FY21, pushing BSE healthcare index to all-time highs.

The huge IPO line-up from healthcare players comes in the back of stellar performance of Gland Pharma stock that debuted in 2020 with the biggest secotral issue in decades mopping up around Rs 6,500 crore. Since listing, it has gained over 110%.

The domestic pharma sector accounts for over 50% of global vaccine supplies, 40% of generic drug supplies to the US, and 25% of all medicines to Britain.

In FY20, the domestic pharma market stood at Rs 1.4 lakh crore, a growth of close 10% from the previous fiscal and is forecast to touch the USD 100-billion mark by 2025.

Glenmark Lifesciences, Windlass Biotech and Supriya Lifesciences have already filed the DRHPs with the Sebi and are likely to hit the market over the next few months.