Drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals posted a 10.5 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit at ₹2,262 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2022 compared to ₹2,047 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The company’s gross sales stood at ₹10,809 crore for the period under review, up 13.1 per cent over the same period last year.

Dilip Shanghvi, Sun Pharma’s Managing Director said, the double-digit topline growth and the strong margins were driven by marketshare gain in India and a sustained ramp-up of global specialty business, besides growth in emerging markets. “Global specialty business has grown by 27.5 per cent driven by Ilumya, Cequa and Winlevi,” he said, underlining the focus on growing the specialty business.

Outlining details, the company said, the sale of formulations or finished form of medicines in India for Q2FY23 stood at ₹3,460 crore, up 8.5 per cent over Q2 last year. This business accounted for about 32 percent of its total consolidated sales.

Its formulation sales in the US stood at $412 million, a growth of 14.1 per cent over the previous year; accounting for over 30 per cent of the total consolidated sales. On Taro, Sun Pharma said, it had posted sales of $130 million in the quarter under review, marginally lower over Q2 last year, and a net loss of $2.8 million.

But emerging markets posted a 6.7 per cent growth in its formulation sales, at $259 million for the quarter under review. Sales from the region accounted for about 19 per cent of the total consolidated sales for the quarter. Sales of finished drugs from the Rest of World (ROW) markets, excluding US and emerging markets, were $181 million in Q2FY23, down 3.8 per cent over Q2 last year and accounting for approximately 13 per cent of total consolidated sales.

On the active pharmaceutical ingredients front, the quarter under review saw external sales of API at ₹473 crore, up 8.5 per cent over Q2 last year.

Consolidated research spends were comparable between the quarter under review at ₹571 crore, as compared to ₹536 crore in the same period last year. For the first half, R&D expense was ₹1,031 crore, or 4.8 per cent of sales, the company said. “Our R&D efforts span across both specialty and generic businesses and we continue to invest in building the pipeline for various markets, including the US, Emerging Markets, RoW Markets and for India,” the drugmaker said. It’s specialty R&D pipeline includes four molecules undergoing clinical trials.