India's Dr Reddy's expects healthy products pipeline in North America for FY25

By Kashish Tandon and Rishika Sadam

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories expects a healthy products pipeline in its key North American market in the fiscal year 2024-25, the generic drugmaker said on Tuesday, after it reported a fourth-quarter profit that beat expectations.

Lenalidomide, the company's generic version of Bristol-Myers Squibb's blockbuster cancer drug Revlimid, will continue to be a meaningful contributor for the next three quarters, the drugmaker said in a post earnings media call.

The drug has been persistently boosting Dr Reddy's U.S. sales since its launch in 2022.

Other generic drugmakers such as Cipla, Sun Pharma and Zydus Lifesciences have also benefitted from rising sales of their own copycat versions of Revlimid in the U.S.

Bristol Myers is facing pressure from generic competition for Revlimid, once its top-selling drug.

Meanwhile, generic drugmakers are grappling with pricing pressures amid intensifying competition.

"Price erosion trends are stable," Dr Reddy's CFO Parag Agarwal said, adding he does not see any structural impact or change in the market.

Dr Reddy's consolidated net profit for three months ended March 31 rose 36.5% from a year earlier to 13.10 billion rupees (about $157 million), beating analysts' average estimates of 12.42 billion rupees, per LSEG data.

The drugmaker's total revenue climbed 13% to 71.14 billion, in line with analysts' expectations, led by a 29% climb in the North American generics business, its biggest segment. Sales in Europe rose 5%.

The company said M V Narasimham, who is currently deputy CFO, will take over as the finance chief from Parag Agarwal, who will retire on July 31.

Rival Cipla will report its fourth-quarter results on Friday.

($1 = 83.4933 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru and Rishika Sadam in Hyderabad; Editing by Varun H K and Mrigank Dhaniwala)