The Hindu Business Line : Biocon Q1 net doubles on statin exports

Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon, addressing a press conference announcing the company's first quarter results in Bangalore on Wednesday. Also in the picture is Mr John Shaw, Vice-Chairman, International Business Development. - G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , July 14

BIOCON Ltd on Wednesday announced that its net profit for the April-June 2004 quarter has more than doubled to Rs 48.6 crore over last year's first quarter. The net grew 112 per cent and total income was up 65 per cent to Rs 177.9 crore over the first quarter of 2003-04.

Export of its cholesterol-lowering statins to the West was the key driver of growth during the period, said the Biocon CMD, Ms Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

Statins alone generated Rs 95.7 crore, up 79 per cent over the first quarter revenue of Rs 53.4 crore for last year.

Ms Mazumdar-Shaw said at a media conference: "The first quarter was driven by our successful entry into the (cholesterol lowering drug) Pravastatin market in Europe following the expiry of product patents in key markets in the region. Sales of Lovastatin to the US has also increased subsequent to obtaining the USFDA approval for our submerged fermentation facility."

The company was meeting the backlog of orders for Lovastatin, she said. Exports, mostly to the US and Europe, grew 57 per cent .

Biocon would not make any guidance because of the nature of its business that depended on regulatory processes and approvals.

"Do not compare us with IT companies. We will continue to deliver robustly on our numbers," she said.

During the current fiscal, Biocon is investing Rs 650 crore in capacity expansion, of which Rs 450 crore will go into the fermentation and statins facility; Rs 85 crore into the MAbs (monoclonal anti-bodies used in modern cancer therapy) facility; and Rs 25 crore for immunosuppressants.

The custom research business capability at its subsidiary Syngene is to be scaled up with an investment of Rs 35 crore during the second quarter this year.

Under a new division, Biocon Healthcare, the company has launched 11 formulations in the diabetes and cardio-vascular segments.

Ms Mazumdar-Shaw said Biocon now ranked number 16 among global biotech majors, figuring in the top 20 list just after Genencor, Sepracor and Affymetrix.

Based on market cap of July 8, it was the fifth largest domestic life sciences company after Ranbaxy, Cipla, Sun and Dr Reddy's Labs.

Eyes insulin, MAbs to drive growth

APART from statins, which have captured a chunk of the huge US market for the company, Biocon is looking at emerging market opportunities in insulin and MAbs (monoclonal anti-bodies used in cancer therapy) to drive its growth.

The $5-billion global insulin market is expected to grow, while MAbs segment is expected to more than quadruple globally into a $13-billion story by 2010.

Ms Mazumdar Shaw said Biocon has the largest Asian facilities for both; has a long-term insulin supply pact with Bristol-Myers Squibb and is looking for tie-ups with global majors to expand its reach in insulin and the $20-billion statins scene.

The recombinant human insulin has been cleared by the DCGI. Biocon is awaiting the GEAC's approval and could be launched in the coming 3-4 months. . It also had an opening to the US now through the 505 (b)(2) route of filing for technologically advanced products, she said.

On the MAbs front, the new Rs 85-crore facility will manufacture hR3 antibody for head and neck cancer and will follow it up with other antibodies and cancer vaccine. The product has completed Phase II trials in Canada and Cuba and will go into Phase II B trials in India in the coming weeks.

Admitting that there was global competition for insulin, especially from the Chinese, and pricing pressure on statins, Ms Mazumdar-Shaw said Biocon was relying on its technology edge, strong capacity and product pipeline, proprietary molecules and regulatory compliance to stay ahead.