Astrazeneca Pharma in the red

Astrazeneca Pharma is deep in the red today, with the stock going down over 6% at Rs.1072 with an intra day low at Rs.1050.

The stock is down in the red, reacting to its announcement which came in yesterday. The company stated that AstraZeneca UK has terminated distribution arrangements with the company for Meronem (meropenem) in India.

The termination was a result of global agreement by a parent firm, AstraZeneca PLC to sell the development and commercialisation rights to Pfizer Inc, of its late stage small molecule antibiotics business. Meronem is a carbapenem anti-bacterial used for the treatment of serious infections in hospitalised patients.

Meronem is currently AstraZeneca Pharma India's principal product, which generated 18% of the total turnover of the company in FY 2016. The current distribution arrangements for Meronem in India will terminate in six months from 24 August 2016.