Drugmaker Cipla is open to partnering with companies or repurpose drugs for monkey pox, even as it lines up other products to launch in key markets such as India and the US.

Though the emergency associated with monkey pox is not at the same level or speed as compared to Covid, Cipla was “talking to a few partners”, said its Managing Director and Global Chief Executive Umang Vohra, in an interaction with the media, after the company announced it financial performance for the first quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Q1 performance

Cipla had been among the early movers on therapies to treat Covid over last two years. But this has since seen a reduced uptake for the company and the industry over the last several months. The company posted a total revenue of ₹5,375 crore for the three months under review, down two per cent, when compared to last year’s performance for the same quarter. This would have seen a six per cent growth without the impact of its Covid products, said the company. It’s profit after tax in this period was ₹686 crore, down four per cent from the same quarter, last year.

But even as the company lines up product launches in India and the US, accounting for 46 per cent and 22 per cent of its revenues, Vohra said they would be looking at segments such as opthalmology, dermatology and women’s health to drive future growth. The India segment without Covid products grew at 9 per cent over last year, while the North America market grew by 10 per cent (driven by its respiratory and peptide products), said the company.

Commenting on supply-related shortages that affected the industry, Vohra said they, too, witness such situations on a day-to-day basis, be it with packaging, excipients. And the impact of forex, escalating freight cost and procurement costs had impacted Cipla’s financial performance by ₹100 crore since last year, he said.

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