Biocon To Spin Off, List Biologics Unit In Future
Overseas opportunities more attractive than the domestic market as local companies indulge in price dumping, says Mazumdar-Shaw.
Biocon plans to hive off and list its biologics vertical to meet capital needs and limit borrowings.
“We have clearly indicated that the biologics business will be spun off into a full-fledged subsidiary first, and then we will look at taking it to the market to raise further capital,” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson and managing director, said in an interview with BloombergQuint. “This is because Biocon is conservative in its debt-equity ratio. So we are not going to be highly leveraged.”
Mazumdar-Shaw said overseas opportunities were more “attractive” than the domestic market as local companies were indulging in price dumping.
The dynamics in India have to stabilise and that is when we will look at an India strategy.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon
Other Key Highlights:
On Current Biosimilar Markets:
- Strong acceptance for biosimilar of pegfilgrastim (used in post-chemotherapy treatment) in the U.S. augers well for other future launches.
- There will only be a handful of biosimilar players in a not-so-aggressive market due to investment and gestational timelines involved.
On Pricing Pressure From Originators Like Eli Lilly, Roche:
- The price cuts of originator companies are knee-jerk reactions.
- Orginators are cross-subsidising from protected markets and will not sustain for long once the protection is lost.
Insulin Glargine’s U.S. Launch:
- We are on track for the U.S. launch; the market is expected to open up over the next 12 months.
Here’s the full interview: