“Our first strategy is to bring innovative medicine faster into the country, which otherwise [patients] would go to other parts of the developed world to buy,” Sanjeev Panchal, managing director of AstraZeneca India, told Mint in an interview.
The company reported a robust set of numbers for the December quarter of FY25, with its profit nearly doubling year-on-year to ₹30.8 crore and its Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) margin expanding sharply from 4.9% to 17.5%. Its revenues grew 44% to ₹440.3 crore.
The company’s quarterly performance was boosted by increased product sales, especially in its oncology portfolio, which contributed 62% to its overall revenues of ₹1,330 crore in FY24.
AstraZeneca Pharma India stock rose about 1% to settle at ₹7,354.35 on the BSE on Wednesday.
“You are clearly seeing growth which is high double-digit in the past year…and we believe that we will continue to have strong growth as we go ahead because we have more assets and new indications in the pipeline,” Panchal said.
The parent company has a global ambition of introducing 20 new assets (new medicines, or new indications of existing drugs) into the world by 2030. “We would want to bring as many products as possible out of this global pipeline into India as well.”
Cancer focus
With India’s cancer burden rising, AstraZeneca is banking on bringing innovative drugs to meet the country’s needs. In the past year, AstraZeneca secured regulatory approvals to bring some key cancer drugs into the country.
Its breast cancer drug Trastuzumab Deruxtecan (brand name Enhertu), launched in January 2024, emerged as the top-selling new drug brand last year. According to IQVIA data, AstraZeneca had the highest sales among new introductions at ₹57.9 crore from a single brand, Enhertu.
The drug reflects the company’s focus on pioneering scientific innovation, Panchal said. Enhertu was granted breakthrough designation by the US drug regulator Food and Drug Administration (FDA), highlighting its scientific innovation and potential relevance to meeting the needs of breast cancer patients.
Its lung cancer drug Osimertinib (Tagrisso), continues to be its best-selling oncology brand by sales. Another drug Durvalumab (Imfinzi), used to treat lung cancer, demonstrated robust growth last year.
According to a report by HDFC Securities, the oncology market in India is forecast to grow by $947.8 million during 2022-27, at CAGR of 13.5%. The growth is likely to be driven by early diagnosis of patients, continuous introduction of new drugs, improved accessibility to innovative cancer medications, and extended treatment durations for medicines.
Apart from oncology, AstraZeneca is also focusing on the rare diseases, respiratory, and cardiovascular segments to boost the product pipeline.
Competition from local players
While the drugmaker has clocked robust sales from its oncology portfolio, Indian generics players have been quick to enter the market as well. Mint reported earlier that Biocon and Cadila Healthcare have signed up under the government’s production linked incentive scheme to produce Trastuzumab.
As more players enter the market, prices are expected to fall. While Panchal did not comment on pricing strategy, he pointed out that the company is banking on bringing newer innovations which aren’t available to continue its momentum.
The company is looking at strategic partnerships as the market gets more competitive. Last year, it inked a partnership with Mankind Pharma for distribution of its asthma drug Symbicort. The company will continue to evaluate partnerships for certain drugs which need to be made more accessible, where it can leverage the distribution network of a domestic player, Panchal said.
“At the same time, we also need to build an ecosystem, because when you have new science in oncology, the science is moving very fast,” Panchal said.
The company has joined hands with the state governments of Goa and Karnataka for early cancer detection and screening initiatives.
“For us, bringing innovative medicine faster is [the] important thing, and on the way, we see how we can improve access and affordability…rather than wait for long to get the right price,” Panchal added.
