Biocon Ltd., India’s biggest biotech company, reported a 17 per cent increase in first-quarter profit, helped by healthy demand for its biosimilar drugs. Consolidated net profit for the April-June period rose to Rs.147 crore from Rs.126 crore a year-earlier.
The Bengaluru-based firm said the consolidated total revenue increased by 11 per cent year-on-year to Rs.952 crore for the first quarter from Rs.857 crore.
“Our strong performance this quarter has been driven by an all-round growth of our business across small molecules, biologics, branded formulations and research services,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson and managing director at Biocon.
The small molecules contributed Rs.357 crore and its research unit Syngene added Rs.263 crore to the total sales for the quarter. Branded formulations contributed Rs.159 crore and biologics added Rs.107 crore.
The biologics business delivered a growth of 53 per cent driven by sales of biosimilars, which are less costly versions of original drugs made by a different company. They are used to treat diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Biologic drugs are created using living cells and they treat diseases mainly by genetically modifying the cells.
Biocon said that it did the regulatory filing of its first biosimilar Pegfilgrastim in the European Union and also introduced insulin Glargine in Japan.
The company also received regulatory approvals from Ministry of Health in Malaysia, for rh-Insulin and Glargine which will enable commercialization of these products.
“We are on track for filing some of our biosimilars and generic formulations in the developed markets later this year,” said Ms.Shaw. Biocon spent Rs.92 crore on R&D last quarter.
