Cipla Seeks Growth For Biosimilar Arm Via Tie-Ups

"We’ll target South Africa, Australia, India and emerging markets," Kedar Upadhye, the company’s joint president and global chief finance officer, told BloombergQuint in an interview. He expects revenue share from the partnerships in these regions to grow.

A few products, he said, are already on the shelves in India.

The partnerships help avoid upfront cash investments. “Two to three years ago, we went out of organic development and manufacturing of biosimilars, and not burn too much cash,” Upadhye said. The tie-ups, however, will fetch margins similar to in-house products, he said.

The drugmaker partnered with Roche Holding AG in June 2020 to make biosimilars for India. It expanded its partnerships for four similar products in Australia—to be used in immunology, osteoporosis, oncology and ophthalmology, Managing Director Umang Vohra had said in the fourth-quarter earnings call.

Cipla has stayed away from the U.S. and European markets though plans to enter these markets in the future.

It's also selective in choosing the target categories. Cipla's biosimilars will focus on the respiratory segment "rather than doing everything”, Upadhye said.