Indian drugmaker Cipla (CIPLA) missed second-quarter profit estimates as a sharp slowdown in its US business eclipsed strong growth at home.
The country’s third-largest drugmaker by revenue has faced weakness in North America, its biggest overseas market, since the start of the year. Sales of generic Revlimid, the blood cancer drug made by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), continue to moderate after the medicine lost patent protection.
Cipla is relying on Yurpeak, an obesity drug marketed in India under a licensing agreement with Eli Lilly (LLY), to support growth. Shrikant Akolkar, a pharma analyst at Nuvama Institutional Equities, said Yurpeak had been performing well and that Cipla’s Indian revenue growth was likely to track the broader domestic pharmaceutical market.
Consolidated net profit plunged 35 per cent to 8.78bn rupees ($92.2mn) in the quarter ended September 30, from 13.51bn rupees a year earlier. Analysts had expected profit of 9.42bn rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Revenue from the Indian business rose 12 per cent, while North American revenue fell 19 per cent. The two markets together account for about two-thirds of the company’s revenue.
Revenue from operations fell 2.4 per cent to 74.04bn rupees, partly because of a reclassification effective April 1, 2026, under which certain marketing and promotional expenses are now presented as a reduction from revenue rather than under other expenses. The company said the change had no impact on profit or cash flows.
Cipla shares fell as much as 2.7 per cent to 1,319 rupees after the results, while the broader pharma index rose 1.9 per cent.