India's Gland Pharma Posts 41% Increase in Quarterly Revenue on Cenexi Acquisition

Gland Pharma Ltd, an Indian maker of generic injectables, reported a 41% increase in first-quarter revenue earlier this week, aided by its acquisition of French pharmaceutical group Cenexi. The Hyderabad-based company said revenue increased to 12.09 billion Indian rupees ($146.13 million) from 8.57 billion rupees, with the majority of its revenue coming from the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. According to the company, its January acquisition of Cenexi accounted for 37% of total revenue. Europe revenue increased more than fivefold to 2.22 billion rupees.

Gland Pharma's revenue increased 3.5%, excluding the Cenexi acquisition, due to improvements in its core business and stability in the United States. "Efforts to recover the business after a difficult previous year are bearing fruit," Gland Pharma Chief Executive Officer Srinivas Sadu said in a statement. However, Gland Pharma, which is majority owned by China's Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co, reported a 15.3% drop in profit to 1.94 billion rupees for the quarter ended June 30 due to price erosion and increased competition. Gland Pharma, founded in 1978, primarily operates on a business-to-business model and focuses on sterile and complex injectables.

The company also has contract manufacturing, along with direct consumer sales. Sales in the Indian market, which accounts for 5 per cent of its total revenue, rose 29 per cent to 647 million rupees. Gland Pharma also said it launched cardioprotective agent Dexrazoxane in China during the quarter, the company's first product in the country. Shares of the company closed marginally up at 1342.55 rupees earlier this week.