Hyderabad: Drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd posted an 88% jump in profit in the quarter ended 31 December on sales from recently launched generic schizophrenia drug olanzapine in the US.
Net profit rose to Rs 512.96 crore from Rs 273.14 crore in the year earlier on a consolidated basis. Income from sales rose 46% to `2,769.19 crore from Rs 1,898.51 crore.
“The growth in North America was led by the launch of olanzapine and volume growth across key brands,” said Satish Reddy, managing director and chief operating officer of Dr Reddy’s, speaking to reporters in Hyderabad.
Dr Reddy’s enjoys an 180-day exclusivity period to sell the 20mg version of olanzapine in the US market. Olanzapine is the generic version of Eli Lilly and Co.’s Zyprexa with annual sales of around $3.2 billion in the US as of September, based on IMS sales data. Dr Reddy’s launched olanzapine in October.
“The sale of olanzapine alone contributed $99 million to total sales,” said Umang Vohra, chief financial officer, Dr Reddy’s.
“The fourth quarter will also benefit from olanzapine exclusivity,” Vohra added.
The sale of generics in the key North American market stood at around `1,111.4 crore. Excluding olanzapine, sales of generics in North America rose 32% on account of volume growth of key products such as lansoprazole, tacrolimus, omeprazole, fondaparinux and the antibiotic portfolio from the Bristol facility, which it acquired from GlaxoSmithKline Plc in November 2010.
The company crossed $100 million in sales in the over-the-counter (OTC) segment in North America for the first time.
“The US looks strongly driven by the olanzapine exclusivity along with a couple of good launches that are expected in coming months,” said Sushant Dalmia, an analyst at Mumbai-based Pinc Research. “But the company continues to face pressure in other geographies.”
Sales in Russia and the former Soviet republics grew 15% to Rs 331.7 crore and in Europe by 6% to Rs 432.5 crore.
“Russia is an aberration,” Reddy said. “The delayed onset of monsoon and optimization of inventory by traders led to the flattish growth, but in the fourth quarter, things will normalize.”
Sales from Betapharm, the German arm of Dr Reddy’s, remained flat on account of continuing pricing pressure in the tender-based market. “Things haven’t changed much,” Reddy said.
Sales in India, where Dr Reddy’s is trying to get a firmer foothold, grew 11% to Rs 419.4 crore in the third quarter. The company launched six new products in the quarter.
“India is a high-priority market for us. It’s the first time we got into double-digit growth after several quarters in spite of a weak October for the industry,” Reddy said.
Dr Reddy’s gained 2.16% to Rs 1,670.50 on Friday on the Bombay Stock Exchange while the benchmark Sensex rose 0.99% to 17,604.96 points.
viswanath.p@livemint.com