Cipla, Alkem, Zydus shares gain as US FDA reportedly approaches Indian firms for cancer drug supply

NSE data showed that the sectoral benchmark, Nifty Pharma index, jumped over 2% after the opening bell to 25,294.50 points on Tuesday’s market, compared to 24,762.90 points at the previous stock market close.

As of 10:45 am, the Nifty Pharma index was trading 1.7% higher at 25,184 points during the intraday trading session, according to the stock exchange data.

Does US FDA need cancer drugs?

According to a Mint report citing officials aware of the development, the US FDA reached out to the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) to identify potential Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers which are capable of supplying cancer medicine to the United States.

The report also mentioned that the US FDA’s approach to the Indian pharma body is to acquire a supply of ifosfamide, which is used to treat testicular, bladder and lung cancer among patients.

“The US FDA is interested in information from manufacturers that are currently producing or have the capability to produce these products for any market,” according to an IDMA communication cited in the news portal’s report.

US drug shortage

The United States is facing an ongoing shortage of drugs due to a technical disruption caused at Baxter International’s contract manufacturing site. Baxter is one of the primary suppliers of “ifosfamide”, which is used to make critical medicines.

As per a Reuters report, Baxter estimates that the reduced capacity is expected to continue but gradually improve through the year 2026, as the company works with manufacturing partners in coordination with the European Medicines Agency.

Although the news report did not specifically mention any companies which the US FDA is looking at, the overall move has emerged as a positive trigger for export-linked pharma companies, which are likely to gain from order updates from the United States.

US FDA even reportedly said that the agency is willing to procure ifosfamide from non-FDA-registered Indian manufacturing facilities and products which are approved outside the United States amid the shortage issue.

Rupee-dollar impact

In the last one month, the Indian rupee has lost 1% of its value against the benchmark US dollar due to the higher demand for the greenback currency in the global market amid the geopolitical conflict in West Asia.

A higher dollar demand and value are beneficial for export-linked stocks and sectors like pharmaceuticals, among others. Hence, if India receives orders from the United States to acquire ifosfamide in bulk quantities to fill a supply shortage, the dollar revenue will fuel the growth of these pharma companies.

On Tuesday’s market, the US dollar was trading 0.04% higher at 101.059 as of 1:24 am (ET) in the United States, further adding to the support for pharma stocks in the market amid the positive sentiment of potential upcoming orders from the United States.

Pharma stocks in focus today

*Note: All data related to the intraday high, intraday change, and YTD returns have been collected from the NSE website.

Has Nifty Pharma surpassed NIFTY50 returns?

Nifty Pharma has gained around 5% in the last five trading sessions and the sectoral index has consistently generated returns for investors due to the defensive sector demand amid overall stock market volatility during the West Asia conflict.

The Nifty Pharma index has also surpassed the benchmark NIFTY50 gains in the last one-year period, according to NSE data. While both indices have generated healthy returns over the last three and five years, the difference lies in the last one year.

Nifty Pharma has gained more than 16% in the last one year, and over 11% so far in the calendar year 2026, on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, as per the exchange data. While the NIFTY50 index has lost 3.4% in one year, and 7.7% YTD due to the wider market selloff.