Biocon Biologics posts strong Q1 growth as North America, Europe deliver

Mint

6 days ago

Biocon Biologics Ltd, the biosimilars unit of biopharmaceutical giant Biocon and its largest revenue driver, expects to accelerate growth after reporting a strong first quarter, according to its top executive.
The company's revenue grew 18% year-on-year to ₹2,458 crore, and Ebitda rose 36% on a like-for-like basis to ₹645 crore in the quarter ended June. Its Ebitda margin expanded to 26% during the quarter.
'The growth this quarter has come from North America and Europe, in both the advanced markets. And primarily on our oncology franchise," chief executive officer Shreehas Tambe told Mint in an interview. Some of its key biosimilars in the oncology portfolio, such as Fulphila and Ogivri, have held market share of over 25% in these markets, said Tambe.
The firm also received the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval for Kirsty (Insulin Aspart), which is the first known interchangeable rapid-acting analogue to innovator Novo Nordisk's NovoLog. 'It is very differentiated given that there is no competition there, just the innovator and us and the innovators signalling that they are exiting the market," Tambe said.
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The addressable market for Insulin Aspart in the US is $1.2 billion and an additional $1.6 billion market for another rapid-acting insulin Lispro (sold as Humalog by Eli Lilly). 'It sets us up very well for the coming quarters and beyond," Tambe added.
The oncology portfolio is a key focus area for the company. Apart from that, it will continue to focus on diabetes and autoimmune diseases. The company has a pipeline of five new product launches in the next 12-18 months, which will drive growth.
Global leadership
North America was the largest market for Biocon Biologics last quarter, accounting for 40% of its revenue, followed by Europe (35%). Emerging markets made up the remaining 25%.
The company is betting on growth on the back of its acquired global biosimilars business.
'We had a three-stage strategy for growth: first was to preserve the value of the acquired asset, which is what we did. Last year, we focused on consolidating it; we put all the building blocks in place," said Tambe, adding that this year the firm plans to accelerate towards growth.
Biocon Biologics acquired the global biosimilars portfolio of its US-based partner Viatris in 2022 for $3.3 billion in stock and cash considerations, which made it a fully integrated global biosimilars business.
Biocon is betting on the biosimilars business to drive growth and turn it into a global leader in the segment. The subsidiary is Biocon's largest revenue driver, contributing 61% to overall revenue in Q1FY26.
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'Without the Viatris acquisition, we could never be a global biopharmaceutical company," Biocon's executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told investors in a post-earnings call on Friday.
'This is going to be a game-changing transformative acquisition that we have made that will actually make us true global leaders," said Shaw, adding that the firm was well-positioned to surge to a global leadership position in the next five years.
Successful fundraise
In a bid to pare debt and increase its stake in Biocon Biologics, Biocon concluded its first equity fundraise since its 2004 IPO in the last quarter. It raised ₹4,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) in June 2025.
The funds will be used to increase Biocon's holding in its subsidiary Biocon Biologics, and provide an exit to private equity investors, the company said.
Biocon Biologics has a net debt of $1.1 billion as of June 2025. The funds raised through the QIP have been partially used to retire optionally convertible debentures of Goldman Sachs, and the company will also retire non-convertible debentures (NCDs) with Kotak Securities and Edelweiss during the course of this fiscal, the company's management said in its post-earnings call. '...we will gradually start seeing interest costs come down," Siddharth Mittal, Biocon's CEO and managing director, told investors.
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The successful equity fundraise is 'certainly an indication that the market believes in the story," said Tambe. 'Second, by retiring all structured debt it certainly clears up the captable…Biocon Limited has a far larger stake than it had before."
Biocon's board had announced in the fourth quarter of FY25 that it was setting up a strategic committee to evaluate a merger of Biocon Biologics with the parent company. The company has also been evaluating a public listing.