By Lucy Raitano
LONDON (Reuters) – Shares in UK pharmaceutical company Hikma rose by the most in 10 months on Thursday, hitting an 18-month high, following news of tornado damage to a U.S. facility owned by competitor Pfizer, which boosted other drugmakers’ stock.
Pfizer said on Wednesday its plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, which is one of the largest sterile injectable product facilities in the world, suffered heavy damage from a tornado.
Hikma shares rose by as much as 9.4% in their largest one-day increase since last September. Pfizer is the largest supplier in the U.S. injectables market and Hikma is the second-largest, analysts said.
Hikma’s shares were last up nearly 7% on the day, while those in German rival Fresenius, the third-largest supplier to the U.S. injectables market, were up by 4.84%
“It is a very large manufacturing facility, therefore I think the read across to Hikma is that they are the second-largest supplier and they will benefit from the problems Pfizer has supplying the market,” Stifel healthcare analyst Max Herrmann said.
Hikma, which has a market value of around $5.6 billion compared with Pfizer’s $205.7 billion, might struggle to meet demand, Herrmann said.
Hikma was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.
European healthcare stocks were up around 0.7% on the day, outperforming the broader STOXX 600, which rose 0.4%. Pfizer shares were up 0.16% in premarket trading.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Jan Harvey)
