Biotechnology major Biocon on Friday posted a 23.01 per decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 195.4 crore during the July-September quarter on the back of higher expenses.
The biopharmaceutical company had posted a net profit of Rs 253.8 crore for the July-September quarter previous fiscal.
The company reported a rise in its consolidated total income at Rs 1,760.3 crore for the quarter under review. It was Rs 1,605.7 crore for the same period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Speaking about the results Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, “Our profitability was impacted on account of higher R&D expenses, staff costs, other expenses and forex losses. However, our core EBITDA margins stood at a healthy 32 per cent, indicating sound operational performance.”
“As a part of our commitment to address the novel coronavirus pandemic in India, Biocon Group is working on a comprehensive portfolio of products for treating mild to severely ill COVID-19 patients. We have introduced ARAFLU (Favipiravir) in addition to Cytosorb and ALZUMAB-L, and Syngene has started manufacturing Remdesivir under a voluntary licensing agreement with Gilead,” she added.
The biopharmaceutical said it has seen steady progress towards deploying Itolizumab, its first-in-class anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody, to treat Covid-19, globally.
“Our Insulin Glargine, Semglee was commercialised in the US by our partner Mylan, during the quarter, thus heralding our entry into the US Insulins market. With this launch, we have expanded our portfolio of Biosimilars and occupy a position of impactful influence in the Biosimilars segment,” Mazumdar-Shaw said.
The R&D expense of the company for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, was at Rs 148 crore as against Rs 104 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, Biocon said.