Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was trading 1.6 percent higher at Rs 460.15 on NSE (National Stock Exchange) after it received approval from US health regulator FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for a cancer drug Yonsa from one of its subsidiaries.

Yonsa is a drug used for the treatment of a form of prostate cancer. Sun Pharmaceutical's subsidiary Churchill Pharmaceuticals LLC will commercialize it in the USA.

In a regulatory filing, the two companies said about the approval and its agreement to promote the drug as a branded product in the US.

The Mumbai-based Pharma company is in the business of pharmaceutical formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients in India and in the US. With strategic acquisitions and joint ventures in the last two decades, it has become the largest pharma company in India and the largest Indian pharma company in the US.

Glenmark Pharmaceutical Limited's share price was also pushed higher after it received its final approval for Colesevelam Hydrochloride tablets from the FDA yesterday. It saw a 1.93 percent rise (Rs 9.90) to Rs 521.55 at 12.24 pm on Wednesday. Glenmark currently has 135 products authorized for distribution in the US marketplace and it has 62 ANDAs (Abbreviated New Drug Applications) pending with the FDA.

It is also Mumbai-based and has expanded the sales of its drugs in the US and European markets.

Trade volumes for both the company were higher after the news came out.

At 12:35 pm NSE's Nifty Pharma index was trading 0.48 percent higher (38.90 points) higher at 8157.80.

Meanwhile, Cipla surged by 7.27 percent in morning trade to Rs 562.50 on BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) after it reported a consolidated profit of Rs 153.25 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.