Umang Vohra, Cipla MD and Global CEO
As the shadow of US tariffs loom large over the pharmaceutical industry, Cipla’s top executive said, it would have an impact, but that would not necessarily be “debilitating”.
“We don’t see a debilitating effect on account of tariffs. We do think that there will be an impact…But it’s not a debilitating effect that will derail the way that we’ve thought of our business,” said Umang Vohra, Cipla MD and Global CEO, in a post-results media interaction.
For the first quarter ended June 30, 2025, Cipla clocked revenues of ₹6,957 crore, up 4 per cent over the same period last year, and profit after tax of ₹1,298 crore – up 10 per cent over the corresponding three months last year.
A key uncertainty over the global pharmaceutical industry, in particular remains US President Donald Trump’s threat of unprecedented tariffs on the sector. Responding to multiple queries on tariffs, Vohra echoed sentiments of other representatives from the Indian pharmaceutical industry. “Our general sense is that pharmaceuticals is fairly essential to everyone’s life. And therefore, even if it’s tariffed, it’s probably not going to be tariffed at the rate that the rest of the markets .. the rest of the products would be,” he said. A broad look at the trade deals reveals an average tariff for most countries was in the range of 15 odd per cent, he said. “We think that pharma is going to be significantly lower than that,” Vohra said, adding that the impact would be more on branded drugs, rather than the generic drugs industry.
Revenue breakup
Commenting on the company’s Q1 performance, he said, “We delivered steady revenue … with a healthy EBITDA margin of 25.6 per cent. What makes this performance commendable is that it builds on a strong prior-year quarter, where we achieved our highest-ever US generics revenue. Our One-India business grew at 6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y). Key therapies in (the) branded prescription business continued to outpace the market growth. Trade generics recorded a strong growth and anchor brands of consumer health business maintained leadership position.”
The US business posted a revenue of $226 million; One Africa business clocked 11 per cent growth in dollar terms and emerging markets and Europe delivered a healthy revenue growth of 8 per cent over last year in dollar terms, he said, adding that the focus would be on growing key markets, building flagship brands, investing in the future pipeline and focusing on resolutions on the regulatory front.
Published on July 25, 2025
