Biocon Ltd, the biotechnology firm, today said that it would make an investment of $161 million by 2014 in order to focus on research and development and production of biosimilars. It will set up a biomanufacturing and R&D facility there with an initial investment of $161 million (about Rs 715 crore). The proposed facility will come up at Bio-Xcell, a biotechnology park and ecosystem in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor. The company said it would work with Malaysian Biotechnology Corp, an agency for the biotechnology industry in Malaysia, for research and development and manufacturing of biotechnology products.
According to Biocon Chairman and Managing Director Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw the company will make the investments in a phased manner with $161 million going in for the first phase. The proposed facility will be operational by 2014.
She also added "We are pleased to be an early mover in this emerging opportunity as we dovetail our research and biomanufacturing operations with those in Malaysia to gain a global competitive advantage".
On the other hand, Biocon has entered into a $350-million (Rs 1,550 crore) strategic alliance with drug-major Pfizer last week for marketing Biocon's insulin products. The agreement includes the commercialisation of Biocon's biosimilar versions of insulin and insulin analog products: recombinant human insulin, glargine, aspart and lispro, Biocon said.
The potential market for these four products, according to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, would roughly be around $20 billion by 2015.
Regarding the financial performance, Biocon's consolidated net sales for the quarter ended September 2010 increased by 17% to Rs 678.77 crore. Its pharma segment (88% of net sales) increased by 18% to Rs 600.64 crore, while contract research segment (12% of net sales) rose by 10% to Rs 85.74 crore. Moreover, the operating profit margins expanded by 170 bps to 21.3% on the back of decrease in consumption cost and other expenses. As a result, the operating profit rose by 27% to Rs 144.76 crore. The spurt in effective tax rate by 360 basis points restricted the net profit to grow at 20% to Rs 89.22 crore
The shares of Biocon today closed at Rs 430.45, down by 0.29% on BSE. The scrip touched an intraday high of Rs 443.35 and a low of Rs 428.05. The total traded volume of the scrip on BSE stood at 2.74 lakh.
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According to Biocon Chairman and Managing Director Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw the company will make the investments in a phased manner with $161 million going in for the first phase. The proposed facility will be operational by 2014.
She also added "We are pleased to be an early mover in this emerging opportunity as we dovetail our research and biomanufacturing operations with those in Malaysia to gain a global competitive advantage".
On the other hand, Biocon has entered into a $350-million (Rs 1,550 crore) strategic alliance with drug-major Pfizer last week for marketing Biocon's insulin products. The agreement includes the commercialisation of Biocon's biosimilar versions of insulin and insulin analog products: recombinant human insulin, glargine, aspart and lispro, Biocon said.
The potential market for these four products, according to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, would roughly be around $20 billion by 2015.
Regarding the financial performance, Biocon's consolidated net sales for the quarter ended September 2010 increased by 17% to Rs 678.77 crore. Its pharma segment (88% of net sales) increased by 18% to Rs 600.64 crore, while contract research segment (12% of net sales) rose by 10% to Rs 85.74 crore. Moreover, the operating profit margins expanded by 170 bps to 21.3% on the back of decrease in consumption cost and other expenses. As a result, the operating profit rose by 27% to Rs 144.76 crore. The spurt in effective tax rate by 360 basis points restricted the net profit to grow at 20% to Rs 89.22 crore
The shares of Biocon today closed at Rs 430.45, down by 0.29% on BSE. The scrip touched an intraday high of Rs 443.35 and a low of Rs 428.05. The total traded volume of the scrip on BSE stood at 2.74 lakh.
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