Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd and Cipla Ltd have beaten Aurobindo Pharma to become India’s second and third biggest drugmakers, respectively, in terms of sales, in the quarter ended 30 September. Lupin Ltd was the second largest pharma company until a few years ago. Aurobindo displaced the firm in January to March 2015. Dr. Reddy’s and Cipla displaced Lupin later on, and it is the fifth largest company by sales now.
Dr. Reddy’s earned Rs 6,331.8 crore as revenue in the September quarter, while the revenue of Aurobindo slid to Rs 5,739.4 crore. In the same period, Cipla earned Rs 5,828.5 crore. With sales of Rs 10,809 in the quarter ending 30 September, Sun Pharmaceutical has retained the position as the nation’s largest drugmaker.
According to an analyst at Axis Securities, the sales of the generic version of oral cancer drug Revlimid contributed to the performance of Dr. Reddy’s and Cipla. The sales accounted for a little over a third of Dr. Reddy’s total business in the United States.
The new business from the blood cancer drug hasn’t been revealed by Cipla. The first few firms to submit their application meeting the requirements of US drugs regulator, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), get 180 days of selling the drug without any competition from generic rivals in the country. In this case, FDA gave approval to Cipla and Dr Reddy’s for their generic versions after the patent for Revlimid by Bristol Myers Squibb, ended last year.
Aurobindo has reported weak sales and decline in price for its current formulation business in the US, which amounted to 46 percent of its total sale. Aurobindo’s revenue sequentially decreased for the second time in nine months after sales dropped 3.2 percent in January to March.
According to Ankush Mahajan, an analyst at Axis Securities, Dr Reddy’s is presently investing in various businesses that could offer long term growth. He further added that the company is developing NCE (novel chemical entities) for immuno-oncology, a global pipeline of biosimilars, vaccines, CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organisation), vaccines, and digital healthcare platforms.
