Asian shares are higher today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Nikkei 225 is up 0.4% while the Hang Seng is also up 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.1%. US stocks closed little changed on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing the US from the Iran nuclear deal signed three years ago.

Back home, India share markets opened the day on a negative note. The BSE Sensex is trading down by 55 points while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 9 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened the day down by 0.2% & 0.1% respectively.

Sectoral indices have opened the day on a mixed note with metal stocks and information technology stocks witnessing maximum buying interest. While, energy stocks and banking stocks have opened the day in red. The rupee is trading at 67.08 to the US$.

In the news from the pharma sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Lupin's joint venture, YL Biologics (YLB) with Japanese drug maker Yoshindo – has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) before Japan's drug regulator to sell biosimilar of Etanercept. The drug is used for treatment of autoimmune disease Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Autoimmune disease occurs when immune system mistakenly attacks our body.

A biosimilar is a product that is very similar to a biological product already approved by regulators such as the US Food and Drugs Administration (USFDA). Biological products could be produced through biotechnology in a living system, such as a micro-organism, plant cell or an animal cell.

With generic drugs witnessing pricing pressure in key markets such as the US, domestic pharmaceutical firms have been focusing on niche drugs and biosimilars where the margins are better.

Reportedly, Lupin has been a late entrant to biosimilars and is trying to catch up with its rivals spending millions of dollars on developing biosimilars.