Oct 29 (Reuters) - Cipla, India's third-largest generic drugmaker by sales, reported a 15.2% rise in second-quarter profit that beat estimates, driven by higher sales of its respiratory and cancer drugs in its key North America and India markets.
Sales in North America grew 5% during the quarter, driven by Cipla's respiratory drug Albuterol and cancer drug Lanreotide, which is Cipla's second-biggest revenue generator.
"We could have done more (in the U.S.) ... but for a little bit of a supply chain-related issue with regards to Lanreotide," Global Chief Executive Officer Umang Vohra said.
The company did not elaborate on the supply chain issue but said it expects it to be resolved by the fourth quarter.
Cipla reported a consolidated net profit of 13.03 billion rupees ($155 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts' estimate of 12.34 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.
Revenue from India, the company's second-biggest market, also rose 5% to 29.48 billion rupees. U.S. and India make up three-fourths of Cipla's total revenue.
CEO Vohra said that the India business witnessed a slower antibiotic sales due to different seasonal or weather pattern.
"We're looking to a strong Q3 (for India business) as respiratory (issues') season kicks in," he said.
Indian generic drugmakers like Cipla and Dr Reddy's have benefited from strong demand for their copycat versions of Bristol-Myers Squibb's cancer drug Revlimid since its launch in 2022, boosting sales in the U.S.
Lenalidomide, Cipla's generic version of Revlimid, is its biggest revenue generator.
Cipla's total revenue for the quarter rose 5.6%, slightly below analysts' expectations of a 5.8% growth.
($1 = 84.0480 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Mrigank Dhaniwala
Source: Reuters