BIOCON''s income touches Rs 2,097 crore

Bangalore,Jan20 (PTI) Biotech major BIOCON today said itstotal income rose by 21 per cent to Rs 2,097 crore in Q3ending December 31,2010 on the back of strong performance withgrowth across all business and recorded a profit after tax ofRs 267 crore, year-on-year growth by 25 per cent.

The earning per share rose to Rs 13.6 compared to Rs 10.9during the same period last fiscal, BICON said in a statementhere.

Commenting on the financial performance,the company''s CMDKiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, "Biocon has delivered the highestever PAT this quarter and has crossed the Rs 100 crore mark."

"The operating margin has also increased to 24 per cent thisquarter reflecting the improved quality of earnings. Thismarks an important growth milestone which will enable us toinvest in advancing our research programs and expand ourmanufacturing and marketing partnerships, which we believe,are catalysts of growth for the future," she said.

The Biopharma business posted a 22 per cent YoY increase inrevenues in the nine-months of this fiscal on the back ofstrong growth in the sales of immunosuppressants, statins andthe branded formulations segment.

Domestic Branded Formulations � The six verticals inbranded formulations, namely Diabetology, Oncotherapeutics,Nephrology, Cardiology, Dermatology and Comprehensive Care,have posted a combined YoY growth of 32 per cent.

In Diabetology, the response of diabetes specialiststo the launch of Insugen 100 i.u. in India has been veryencouraging and will help the division increase its marketshare in the human Insulin vials space, the release said.

Overall, the Insulin portfolio has grown by 40 per centover last year, it noted.

The preliminary efficacy data announed from phase IIIclinical trails on IN-105 show encouraging results in patientswith type 2 Diabetes, it said.

Phase III clinical trials for the Anti-CD6 targetingmonoclonal antibody (T1h) program for Psoriasis are ongoing,patient enrollment has been completed and the primary endpoint is expected to be evaluated in Q1 of next year, it said.

BIOCON as part of its corporate development planannounced a strategic foreign direct investment inMalaysia with the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation SdnBhd(BiotechCorp) towards setting up a Bio-manufacturing andResearch and Development facility in Bio-XCell, a custom-builtbiotechnology park and ecosystem in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor.

The investment is the largest for the Malaysianbiotechnology sector thus far.The project would focus on theproduction of Insulins in the first phase. Biocon proposes toinvest around RM500 million (approximately USD 161 million) inthis facility in the first phase which is targeted to beoperational by 2014,it said.