There?s a new twist to the ongoing Ranbaxy saga. Concerned about its falling share price in the aftermath of the US department of justice (DoJ) charges of adulteration, the country?s largest drugmaker, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, on Wednesday lashed out at vested interests for hammering its stock.
Ranbaxy CEO Malvinder Singh, in a conference call with newspersons, said, ?We have been given to understand that there is a concerted effort by a big pharma MNC, a leading Indian company and stockbrokers to bring down our share price. They are trying to create anxiety for our shareholders. This has brought the stock price down?and the price is not reflective of the true performance of the company.?
In the aftermath of the DoJ allegations, Ranbaxy shares plunged 23% on the BSE. However, on Wednesday its price rebounded, rising 15% to end at Rs 409.25.
Ranbaxy believes that the conspiracy was hatched so that these vested interests could buy into the company cheaply. ?I have a clear sense of what is happening. People are trying to create confusion, and obviously somebody is trying to bring our price down so that they can come at a lower price,? Singh said.
The Ranbaxy chief also clarified that the agreement between Japanse pharma giant Daiichi Sankyo and his company is on track and that there is no change in its terms or conditions. ?The deal (between) Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy is a binding deal, and we had an EGM on Tuesday wherein shareholders unanimously approved the infusion of additional equity and warrants to the extent of $1.2 billion, coming into the company from Daiichi Sankyo,? said Singh.
According to Ranbaxy, Daiichi Sankyo, as a part of its due diligence, was up to speed on all developments related to the DoJ. On July 3, the DoJ had accused the company of using ingredients from unapproved sources at its Paonta Sahib plant, fabricated in-house test data to meet FDA standards, and tried to conceal information from FDA inspectors and subsequently filed a motion in the District Court of Maryland.
In its response filed on the motion on Monday, Ranbaxy refuted the charges and promised to furnish all requisite audits in a month.
