Biocon, a Rs.3,000 crore plus pharma company from Bengaluru, has reported satisfactory financial performance during the third quarter ended December 2015 due to higher growth in contract research income. EBIDTA surged by 22.9 per cent to Rs.209 crore from Rs.170 crore. Its consolidated net profit increased by 13.3 per cent to Rs.103 crore from Rs.90.90 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Its consolidated net sales improved by 8.8 per cent to Rs.628 crore from Rs.761 crore. EPS moved up to Rs.5.15 from Rs.4.68 in the last period.
The sales of biopharma increased by 4.1 per cent to Rs.454 crore from Rs.436 crore with licensing income of Rs.32 crore as against Rs.10 crore in the last period. Its branded formulations sales in India were under pressure and declined to Rs.104 crore from Rs.105 crore. Contract research income went up by 22.7 per cent to Rs.270 crore from Rs.220 crore. Its research and development (R&D) expenditure increased by 44.7 per cent to Rs.68 crore from Rs.47 crore. Its research services business through Syngene reported a strong revenue growth of 23 per cent to Rs.270 crore during the quarter under review.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson and managing director, said, “Biocon's four most advanced biosimilar and generic insulin programmes, insulin glargine, trastuzumab, pegfilgrastim and adalimumab, continue to cross critical clinical milestones and are on track for regulatory filings in US & Europe in CY2016. These filings are likely to provide us an early mover advantage in an addressable US$ 30 billion market. The progress made in our biosimilars and novel programs is reflected in the increase in R&D spends this quarter to Rs.68 crore. Excluding profit contribution from Syngene, Biocon's net profit this quarter has increased by 28 per cent y-o-y despite a 45 per cent jump in R&D spends and a significant increase in tax. This reflects a marked improvement in the quality of our earnings led by better realizations from biosimilars and immunosuppressants in emerging markets. Syngene, our research services company, has delivered yet another strong quarter both in terms of revenues and profits.”
The company reports positive clinical data from key studies for insulin Tregopil. Neo Biocon launched Jalra (vildagliptin) and Jalra M (vildagliptin plus metformin) for diabetes in UAE, in collaboration with Novartis Middle East FZE. Branded formulations business strengthened its virology portfolio with the launch of Cimivir-L, a once-a-day oral therapy for hepatitis C, in India. The Bevaciziumab global phase I trial and the RoW-focused phase III trial are advancing as per plan. Similarly, based on the positive results of clinical studies on insulin Tregopil in the US, the company plans to move to the next phase of clinical development.
The company commenced the construction of potent oral solid dosage formulations facility in Bengaluru. The process qualification of its insulins facility in Malaysia has commenced and it set to file for approvals in FY17.
The Biocon-Mylan partnership includes six biosimilar programs (trastuzumab, pegfilgrastim, adalimumab, bevacizumab, etanercept and filgrastim) and threee insulin analog programmes (glargine, lispro and aspart).
For the nine months ended December 2015, Biocon's consolidated net sales increased by 9.2 per cent to Rs.2,436 crore from Rs.2,230 crore in the similar period of last year. The sales of biopharma, including licensing income, increased by 6.5 per cent to Rs.1,400 crore from Rs.1,314 crore and that of branded formulations in India moved up by 1.5 per cent to Rs.336 crore from Rs.331 crore. Its contract research income increased by 27.4 per cent to Rs.744 crore from Rs.584 crore. The profit went up sharply by 80.7 per cent to Rs.535 crore from Rs.296 crore due to exceptional income of Rs.307 crore has arised from sale of Syngene 10% stake. EPS worked out to Rs.26.76 as against Rs.15.07.