Don’t expect immediate impact of US tariff threat, price cuts on business, says Cipla head

Cipla does not expect any immediate impact from potential tariffs imposed by the US on pharmaceutical imports or from US President Trump’s recent order to bring down prescription drug prices, the company’s managing director and global CEO, Umang Vohra, said.

“I think our business continues as usual, there’s not been any stoppage at any place in the US on account of any confusion with respect to tariffs…and so, we don’t see the impact,” Vohra said. He added that the company is monitoring ongoing developments, including trade talks between the US and Indian governments. “We don’t expect material changes to the business environment for generics,” he said.

While Trump has not yet announced tariffs on pharmaceutical products, he has indicated he will bring in separate tariffs for pharma, aimed at bringing back manufacturing to the US.

On the executive order signed by Trump on Monday, which aims to bring down prescription drug prices by 59% in the US, Vohra said that while more clarity is needed, the order will likely target branded innovator drugs more. “As of now, what we understand is that this is largely targeted towards branded drugs…generic prices in the US are already very significantly comparable with the rest of the world, in some cases lower,” he added.

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Vohra was speaking at a media briefing after the company posted its Q4FY25 results on Tuesday.

Cipla’s Q4FY25 revenue rose 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to ₹6,730 crore, while it reported profit after tax of ₹1,222 crore, up 30% from the previous year. The company reported Ebitda of ₹1,538 crore, with a margin of 22.8%. Ebitda is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

For the full year FY25, the company reported revenue of ₹27,548 crore, up 8% y-o-y, and profit after tax of ₹5,273 crore, up 28% y-o-y.

One India Business

Cipla’s One India Business grew at a healthy 8% y-o-y during the quarter. Its branded prescription business continued to outpace the market growth in key chronic therapies, the company said.

The company’s North America business reported quarterly revenue of $221 million, with an all-time high annual revenue of $934 million, supported by traction in differentiated assets. North America accounted for 29% of the company’s overall revenues.

Growth trajectory to continue

The company is focusing on continuing its growth momentum, Vohra said, adding that the company has a pipeline of imminent launches which will drive the growth in the US.

“I think the business is well poised now to project itself into a different trajectory of growth, despite the fact that Lenalidomide (Revlimid) will begin to reduce significantly over the next two years,” Vohra said.

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Companies like Cipla are set to lose exclusivity on the distribution of blockbuster drug Lenalidomide (brand name Revlimid) early next year. “But we believe that we have a well-diversified business model with very significant resilience to offset the fall of Lenalidomide,” Vohra said.

The company’s pipeline includes its peptide products, some of which are expected to launch in FY26-28.

Industry average

In India, the company is focused on outperforming the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM), in-licensing drugs, and partnering with innovators.

“It is a very important part of us being able to create awareness at the doctor level, of bringing new science to the doctors in India, and of benefiting the number of patients who could, you know, from these new discoveries,” Vohra said.

The company is eyeing the launch of GLP-1 products (like Ozempic or Mounjaro) through partnerships with innovators as well as its own products.

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“I think the biggest opportunity for us, at least, would continue to be the Indian market, where we will launch with the rest of the players. And we will de-risk our ability to launch as well through a partnership…We’ll have our own product as well as probably have a partnership with another player as well, just to make sure that we are adequately covered for the capacity of launch in India,” Vohra said.

Semaglutide, a GLP-1 drug known by brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, is going off patent in India early next year.

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