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Indian drugmaker Emcure Pharmaceuticals' shares rose 34.9% in debut trade on Wednesday, beating analysts' estimates and valuing the company at 18.64 billion rupees ($223.3 million), as its strong presence in women's healthcare and HIV treatments drew investors.

In an IPO market where over 100 companies raised more than $4.6 billion so far this year, Bain Capital-backed Emcure is the first drugmaker to go public in 2024.

Analysts expected Emcure's shares to list at nearly a 20% premium.

The stock opened at 1,325.05 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, compared with its offer price of 1,008 rupees.

The company's initial public offering was oversubscribed nearly 68 times last week, drawing bids worth $11 billion, with Bain selling nearly a third of its 13.07% stake.

Six pharma companies went public in 2023, with the largest being the May 2023 debut of Mankind Pharma, also the biggest across sectors in the year.

Emcure's key focus areas, including gynaecology, where it has a market-leading 14% share, and HIV treatments are expected to drive sales growth, analysts have said.

This and its better-than-industry average price-to-earnings ratio of 36.6 drew investors to buy a piece of the company.

Its gynaecology portfolio includes medicines for infertility treatment and menstrual pain.

Analysts will now keenly look forward to the company's growth strategy and accordingly arrive at the fair value of the business from the medium-term perspective, said Sunny Agrawal, an analyst at SBI Securities.

"From a long-term perspective, we remain constructive on the growth prospects of the pharma sector and Emcure," he said.

Emcure is India's 13th biggest drugmaker by market share in a sector dominated by firms such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Mankind Pharma and Torrent Pharma.

($1 = 83.4825 Indian rupees)