After opening the day marginally lower, share markets in India had a tepid session of trading and are currently trading in red. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the pharma sector and stocks in the realty sector trading in green, while stocks in the oil and gas sector are leading the losses.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 70 points (down 0.2%), and the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 32 points (down 0.3%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading flat, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.4% The rupee is trading at 64.34 to the US$.

In news from stocks in the pharma sector. Dr Reddys share price is in focus today and surged over 2% in intraday trade.

The drug maker announced the recall of 325,000 cartons off Zenatane (isotretinoin) capsules, used for treatment of severe acne, from the US market due to failed dissolution specifications.

The drug is manufactured by pharma firm Cipla at its Pune facility for Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) said in a report that the ongoing voluntary class II recall is nationwide in the USA and Puerto Rico. As per the US health regulator, a class II recall is initiated in a “situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote”.

The reason for the recall as stated in USFDA’s Enforcement Report is failed dissolution specifications: out of specification results observed for low dissolution.

At the time of writing, Dr Reddys share price was trading up by 1.5%.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has come under a lot of regulatory pressure in the past few years.

The sector has faced great volatility over the years.

We had written about the current predicament of Indian pharma companies in one of the premium editions of the 5 Minute WrapUp: