Syngene cuts guidance as key product loss weighs on growth

Contract drug research and manufacturing firm Syngene International Ltd has lowered its full-year revenue guidance from mid-single digit growth to negative 2-3%, as destocking of a single biologics product weighed on its growth for a second consecutive quarter, chief executive and managing director Peter Bains told Mint in an interview on Friday.

“In light of the impact that we’re seeing on this single large molecule, we will be adjusting our guidance on revenue, where we had a mid-single digit guidance previously, which will now go to 2-3% negative,” he said.

“This single product was the largest commercial product in our manufacturing platform, and its impact has been material, and it is clearly playing through in our results this quarter as it has in the quarters earlier in the year,” Bains said, adding that outside of this product, the underlying business has delivered steady growth.

Syngene posted its financials for the third quarter on 22 January, with revenue and profit missing estimates. Its revenue from operations declined 3% year-on-year to ₹917 crore in Q3FY26, while Ebitda fell 26% to ₹225 crore, with margins compressing to 24% from 31% a year ago. Profit after tax (PAT) before exceptional items dropped 44% to ₹73 crore.

A Bloomberg poll of four brokerages had pegged its revenue at ₹980 crore, and PAT at ₹99 crore.

For the nine months ended December 2025, revenue rose 3% on-year to ₹2,702 crore, but Ebitda declined 12% to ₹664 crore, and PAT fell 22% to ₹227 crore.

Other business lines offer partial offset

Bains said the company expects the impact of the single molecule to continue in the coming quarters, but hopes to partially offset this with growth from the rest of the platform.

Its research and discovery services business accounted for nearly two-thirds of total sales, while the contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) business accounted for the rest.

Research services secured new programmes during the quarter, and a key highlight was the extension of its long-standing partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb through to 2035, for joint development across discovery, development, manufacturing, and clinical research.

The company also continued to invest in advanced manufacturing and chemistry capabilities, commissioning a commercial-scale capsule facility and expanding catalytic and flow chemistry labs at its Hyderabad site, as it focuses on strengthening its integrated CRDMO platform.

The company has been investing in building capabilities in modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and peptides, where the industry is seeing increasing traction. Apart from this, Syngene has also been investing in a technology called PROTACs (proteolysis-targeting chimaeras) and degraders, which are a dual-target therapy for previously “undruggable” diseases.

“This is a very exciting area of development where we see a long-term opportunity as science is unveiling new ways for interventional medicines,” said Bains.

Syngene’s shares closed 8.88% lower on the National Stock Exchange on Friday at ₹540.