After topping the Street's expectations with its Q3 earnings, Cipla announced plans to launch two key drugs in FY26—the respiratory drug Advair and the oncology drug Abraxane.
Umang Vohra, the company's CEO, confirmed Abraxane's launch in the second half of FY26, which will be manufactured at Cipla’s Goa facility following its recent regulatory approval. Meanwhile, Vohra remained hopeful about rolling out Advair by the end of FY26 from Cipla’s New Jersey plant, as regulatory setbacks at the Pithampur facility necessitated a change in the launch site.
The delay in the launch timeline for both drugs, initially planned for earlier, has been a point of concern for investors, especially given the regulatory hurdles faced by Cipla’s Goa and Pithampur facilities. The management clarified that delays were due to the regulatory approval process and filing timelines, which pushed the launch further out than the market had anticipated.
Regardless of the delays, Vohra remains optimistic about the revenue potential from Abraxane. With its delays, the drugmaker will be the third or fourth player to launch a generic version of the drug in the US. However, Vohra anticipates a large section of the market to move towards generic alternatives following their launch and hence believes Abraxane's generic market will still remain an attractive opportunity for Cipla despite the delay.
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Despite the adjusted timeline, the launches are strategically timed. They coincide with the patent expiry of the blockbuster cancer drug Revlimid, due in January 2026. Given Revlimid's significant contribution to Cipla’s US revenue, Vohra expressed confidence that the launch of Abraxane and Advair would help offset much of the impact from the patent loss.
Aside from that, Vohra revealed the drugmaker's pipeline of two to four key respiratory assets and other peptides that are slated for launch in the next 18–24 months.
Meanwhile, the company also stated an easing of its research and development costs in the near future due to the absence of clinical trial requirements. Regardless, the management reiterated its plan to assign 5–6 percent of its total revenue towards R&D to help innovate its portfolio.
Another positive emerging from Cipla's Q3 earnings has been its strong EBITDA margin profile. Trends for FY25 so far hint towards the EBITDA margin coming ahead of the company's earlier guidance of 24.5–25.5 percent. Despite that, the management refrained from upgrading its EBITDA margin guidance for FY25.
Cipla's EBITDA margin during the quarter gone by expanded to 28.1 percent, up from the 26.3 percent that it reported in the same period of the previous fiscal year. A poll of 10 brokerages polled by Moneycontrol had pegged Q3 EBITDA margin to come at 26.1 percent, meaning the actual numbers came much ahead of expectations.
Cipla reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,571 crore for the December quarter, up 49 percent from the Rs 1,056 crore that it reported in Q3 of the previous fiscal. Revenue came at an all-time high of Rs 7,073 crore, a 7 percent increase from the Rs 6,604 crore revenue reported in the same period of FY24. The net profit as well as revenue topped Moneycontrol's estimates of Rs 1,225 crore and Rs 6,925 crore.
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