According to Biocon, the biopharma business was impacted this quarter by various external factors including the ongoing geo-political conflicts in the MENA region, affecting the growth of the business.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon, stated, "Our revenue growth this quarter has been muted. Our business performance reflects the challenges that we are temporarily facing in some of our key markets especially in the Middle East. We are working towards diversifying our regional dependencies to diminish the impact of such externalities. However, we have sustained our operating margins and profits despite increase in costs."

"Our business profitability has remained intact indicating the benefits of portfolio optimization. Our development pipeline across biosimilars and novel candidates continues to progress well. We remain committed towards improving our performance in the coming quarters," she continued.

The company also, this quarter, filed its first ANDAs, targeting the US generics market.

"This effort is part of our communicated strategy to move up the pharma value chain to enter finished dosages with generic formulations. We continue working towards further optimization of our product portfolio in the small molecules vertical, with a clear focus on profitable growth," said Biocon's press statement.

Biocon is on track to initiate global phase III trials for its biosimilar glargine. Its upcoming insulin facility in Malaysia continues to progress and the plant is expected to be commissioned in the second half of this fiscal.

The company's branded formulations recorded revenues of Rs 111 crore in Q1 FY15. The vertical grew at 10% YoY, in line with the industry.

This quarter, Biocon has reorganized certain divisions within this vertical. The reorganization largely focuses around the cardiology and diabetes divisions to drive synergies around key anchor brands and optimization of product portfolios with a focus on profitability.

The initial set of trials for oral insulin molecule, IN-105 is on track, according to Biocon.

"We continue to engage with potential partners to out-licensing discussions for our novel anti-CD6 molecule, Itolizumab," quoted Biocon.

Also, the research services segment grew by 12% YoY in Q1 FY15, recording revenues of Rs 172 crore.

Commenting on the performance, Mr Peter Bains, director, Syngene International, said, "We have made a steady start to the new fiscal, and will build upon this performance during the course of the year. We have been investing in capacity expansions, some of which will come into play in the latter half of FY15. The new capacities will help us expand our order book and build growth momentum. A key milestone this quarter was the extension of our partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb until the year 2020."