India's Sun Pharma announced another round of rosy earnings Thursday, and thanks to new launches in the U.S., its biggest market, the company believes they can stay that way.
Profits soared 74% to 15.31 billion rupees to beat third-quarter estimates, up from 8.81 billion rupees in the year-ago quarter. A hefty revenue increase powered the climb, with sales ballooning 50% to 42.87 billion rupees. Sun adjusted its guidance accordingly, predicting full-year revenue would grow 29%, up from its earlier guidance of 25%.
"Our overall performance reflects the focus on execution of our strategy," managing director Dilip Shanghvi said in a statement. "We are developing a differentiated and specialty business and continue to evaluate opportunities to enhance our global presence."
Much of that growth will come from the U.S., which saw sales expand 57% for the quarter. Sun got a boost from exclusivity on its version of Doxil, a Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) cancer drug that came into short supply when a Boehringer Ingelheim manufacturing plant hit a snag, prompting the FDA to import Sun's then-unapproved version. While J&J recently said it would take up Doxil manufacturing itself, Sun is ready and waiting with new big products, including a copy of Eli Lilly's ($LLY) blockbuster antidepressant Cymbalta.
Sun's subsidiary Taro, too, saw healthy growth, with profits swelling 30% and sales increasing by 15%. The Israeli company, which Sun made repeated unsuccessful attempts to buy out completely, sells largely to the U.S., India's Business Standard notes; it also has a host of products in its pipeline, filing 6 ANDAs during Q3 to move its total to 25 pending approval.
But that's not to say the U.S. is responsible for all of Sun's recent growth. Despite new drug pricing hurdles in its home market, Sun upped its branded generics revenues by 20% for the quarter, with specialty segments leading the way.
- get more from Business Standard
- see Sun Pharma's Q3 results (pdf)
Special Report: Top 10 generics makers by 2012 revenue - Sun Pharma