Production at Aurobindo’s China plant likely in Q3

New Delhi : Aurobindo Pharma expects its China facility to commence production in the next quarter with full-scale output anticipated only in the next fiscal year, according to Chief Financial Officer Santhanam Subramanian.

The Hyderabad-based drug major plans to start a small volume roll out in the November-December period and expects to ramp it up in the January-March quarter of the next year.

“Our China plant is expected to be commercialised from Q3 FY25, and the ramp up is expected from Q4 FY25,” Subramanian said in an analyst call. The full-fledged volume production will start at the facility in FY26, he stated.

“We are trying to do some filings for China as well as for the US. So all this will take the China revenue potential up in the coming years. This year, we will see only a small volume and value,” Subramanian stated.

He noted that the company is also on track with respect to large-scale commercialisation of Pen-G (penicillin). The company is hopeful to ramp up production significantly from October this year, he added.

The company’s Rs 2,400 crore Pen-G plant in Andhra Pradesh, which was approved under Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Promotion of Domestic Manufacturing of Critical Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ Drug Intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in the country, will have a production capacity of around 15,000 tonnes annually.

On the US business, Subramanian said it expects the current pricing scenario in the US market to continue. Europe and growth markets are expected to continue the growth momentum, he added. Overall, the drug major is confident of achieving its internal EBITDA target margin of 21-22 per cent for the current fiscal, Subramanian said.

Aurobindo Pharma reported a 61 per cent increase year-on-year in its consolidated net profit at Rs919 crore for the April-June quarter this fiscal. The drug maker reported a revenue from operations at Rs 7,567 crore in the June quarter.