It has been 7 years since Samina Hamied, the niece of YK Hamied, joined the board of Cipla. And during this period, the journey has been remarkable. Samina Hamied also gives credit for the huge turnover to Umang Vohra, the managing director and chief operating officer of Cipla.
Efforts have been put in over the last few years that have helped Cipla deliver the performance that we get to witness at present. For example, the Ebitda margin of Cipla has encountered a steady growth, and in the last seven years, it has increased from 14% to 22.8%.
Powerful growth across margin improvement and geographies are the primary reasons that have kept the investors’ sentiments intact on the shares of Cipla. As a result, the stock has doubled since its lows in March 2020.
The growth of Cipla in various markets
In the US market, the company’s growth remains powerful and is triggered by the new launches it made in the respiratory franchise. The Albuterol inhaler’s launch helped Cipla gain momentum in the US sales market. Cipla also aims to keep the market share intact and grow it.
South Africa remains a vital region for Cipla, where the company possesses its front-end distribution. Cipla targets OTC products, tender business, and private business to drive market growth.
Last year, Cipla launched Synchrobreathe, a breath-actuated inhaler in South Africa, and has clocked 10-12% growth (as per the information published in Business Standard). Also, it launched its product in lesser regulated markets like Sri Lanka and Australia.
The cost-control methodologies
The cost control of Cipla is the primary reason behind its margin enhancement. Some of the costs associated with travel and promotional travel may rise. However, Cipla is confident in the company extracting the benefits of its cost-management efforts.
Cipla sells pharmaceutical ingredients to personal care and pharma product manufacturing companies and other industrial manufacturers. When it comes to antiretroviral, Cipla is the largest manufacturer globally.
Role of Cipla during Covid-19 pandemic
In July 2020, Cipla announced the Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir in India under the name Cipremi. It gave Cipla a huge profit in the market. Besides, its contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic has been remarkable. It gave the brand a solid expansion as well.
Cipla is a very prominent name in India’s respiratory segment and is expected a potential growth. After launching products in the international markets, it has earned US$ 70-100 million in revenue in the last financial year (As per the data mentioned in Business Standard). At present, Cipla aims to launch one product every year.
The chief executive officer stated that Cipla planned to work very closely with the diagnostic centers to boost the detection rates of respiratory problems. Cipla is expecting its India base to hit about Rs 36 billion in the coming five years. The USA, India, China, and South Africa will be the biggest Cipla markets in the coming five years.
The respiratory problem has become a stigma in India. Only about 30% of patients use inhalers compared to 70% globally. Therefore, most Indian patients depend on oral medicines. To address this problem, ‘Berok Zindagi’ was launched by Cipla to dispel the myths surrounding respiratory illnesses like asthma. And this way, Cipla will hit something unimaginable both in the market and in the field of healthcare.
