Sun Pharma First-Quarter Profit Boosted By Gleevec Generic

Mumbai: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, India's largest drugmaker, reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates, helped by its exclusive launch of the first generic version of leukaemia drug Gleevec in the United States.

Net profit for the April-June quarter was Rs 2,034 crore ($304.17 million). Sun had reported a profit of Rs 556 crore a year ago, hurt by a big charge related to remediation costs at its drug factories.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of Rs 1,904 crore for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

Sun launched its generic Gleevec in February, pricing it about 30 per cent lower than the original drug's annual price of around $90,000. The company has a six-month exclusivity on the market, and hopes to poach a third of the sales in that time, Sun's North American chief executive Kal Sundaram told Reuters in February.

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