Biocon reports robust first half results

Bangalore, Oct 18: Biotech major Biocon today reported a robust growth in the first half of the current fiscal, with revenues crossing Rs 463 crore and profit after tax touching Rs 84 crore.

Company Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw told newspersons here that the consolidated sales of the group grew by 23 per cent, with the PAT margin registering a healthy 18 per cent increase.

She said all business segments achieved good growth and biopharmaceuticals and research services performed strongly.

Research services continued to deliver excellent growth in profitability in excess of 50 per cent.

Dr Mazumdar-Shaw said ''we have delivered robust and growing profits at a time when we are increasingly investing in our discovery-led research programmes as they move up the development pathway.'' She said Biocon was encouraged by the progress being made on the research and development front and was creating powerful innovation platforms for future growth. ''We continue to build domain knowledge in Oncology, Diabetes and Inflammatory Disease,'' she added.

She said Biocon had launched BIOMAb-EGFR, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody-based drug for treating solid tumours of epithelial origin, such as head and neck cancers. This novel drug was engineered to specifically target and block the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), responsible for the proliferation of cancer cells.

The drug was the first of its kind to be clinically developed in the country and was the first anti-EGFR humanised monoclonal antibody for cancer to be made available commercially anywhere in the world. The product had shown consistent response in clinical trials initiated both in India and globally and would later be extended to other indications. BIOMAb-EGFR was produced at Biocon's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility - Biocon Park.

UNI