Nifty Pharma index at three-year low; what's ailing pharma stocks?

Thus far in CY17, the Nifty Pharma index has tanked nearly 6%

Shares of pharmaceutical companies came under pressure on Tuesday with the Nifty Pharma index slipping nearly 3% to hit a 52-week low of 9,528.95 in intra-day deals, its lowest level since August 18, 2014 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) the S&P BSE Healthcare index, too, dipped nearly 3% or 429 points to 14,184 levels. By comparison, the benchmark indices, Nifty50 and the S&P BSE Sensex were trading 0.5% lower, respectively.

Thus far in the calendar year 2017, the Nifty Pharma index has underperformed with a fall of nearly 6%, as compared to a rally of