Biocon’s quarterly net profit rises 23%

BENGALURU: Biotechnology company Biocon’s net profit for the quarter ended June rose 23%, to Rs 126 crore, from the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Total revenue rose 15% to Rs 857 crore.
Both parameters benefited from the significant increase in revenues from the insulin and biosimilar businesses. Biosimilars are biologic products, made inside living cells, and are not considered duplicates, like generics.
Chairperson and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said the strong performance was on account of a combination of product sales and monetization of R&D assets through licensing. “Our biosimilars strategy is playing out well, with five programmes in phase-3 clinical development,” she said.
Shaw said the Insulins business was boosted with the launch of insulin Glargine in Mexico and Colombia. Total expenses rose 12.7% to Rs 621 crore, mainly due to higher spending on research and development, which jumped to Rs 50 crore, from Rs 31 crore.
Biocon has appointed Dr Narendra Chirmule as the head of R&D. He has taken over from Dr Abhijit Barve, who has moved back to the US for personal reasons. Dr Chirmule held senior leadership positions at Amgen and Merck, in the US, in the departments of clinical immunology overseeing drug development for regulated markets.