Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Q1 FY 2025 Earnings Conference Call of Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sudhir Menon, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director Finance. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to the first quarter earnings call for FY 2025. We continue to see strong performance in our branded markets. Our two largest branded markets, India and Brazil, both have done well. Brazil, while secondary sales continue to grow in double digits, primary sales got impacted this quarter due to flood in one of the provinces, and therefore, quarter two should normalize this impact. The second impact which Brazil had was on the currency depreciation of around 5% for this quarter. On the generic side, Germany continues to grow well. U.S. on a rolling quarter basis is consistent, while it has registered a decline due to a high base last year. In terms of the key financial performance indicators, we've reported a revenue of INR 2,859 crores, up by 10%.
The operating EBITDA is up by 14% Y-o-Y. Other expenses include INR 120 crores, and adjusted for this, the underlying operating margins are INR 924 crores, and the EBITDA margins are at 32.3%. The overall leverage, which is the net debt to EBITDA, now stands at 0.65x.
I'll now hand over the call to Aman for India business.
Thanks, Sudhir. India revenues at INR 1,635 crore registered a growth of 15%. As per the AIOCD secondary market data, the IPM growth for this quarter stands at 8%. Torrent's chronic business grew at 14% versus the IPM's chronic business growth of 8%, driven by strong revival in our cardiac divisions and continued traction in anti-diabetes new launches. Torrent has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Takeda and has commercialized Vonoprazan during the quarter. Our brand, Kabvie, of Vonoprazan, was the first licensed product to be launched in the market and is ranked number one as of June 2024, based on the AIOCD dataset. The initial response of the molecule seems quite promising.
This marks our third licensing deal in the recent quarters, and we continue to scout for similar opportunities, which can bring more novel treatments to the Indian market. Field force strength at the end of the quarter stands at 5,700. We continue to see PCPM improvements in recently expanded divisions. Overall PCPM for the India business during the quarter stands at INR 9.4 lakhs, and we are confident of crossing the INR 10 lakh PCPM mark once again in the next financial year. At the end of the quarter, Torrent has 20 brands in the top 500 of the IPM, with 18 brands more than INR 100 crore sales as of MAT June 2024. We expect the India business to continue outperforming the market growth.
Our focus during the year will remain on improving our market share in chronic therapies, new launches, improving field force productivity in expanded divisions and regions, and continuing the scale-up of the consumer health portfolio.
I will now hand over to Mr. Sanjay Gupta for the international business.
Thanks, Aman. We will start with our branded generics market of Brazil. As per IQVIA, market growth was at 11% for Q1. Secondary sales growth for Torrent was at 12%. Based on internal sales, Q1 constant currency revenue was realized, $123 million, registering an 8% year-on-year growth. We would be launching five products during the rest of the year. Going forward, we intend to maintain about three-six launches per year, and currently, we have 19 molecules waiting for ANVISA approval. In Germany, constant currency revenue was EUR 32 million, up by 9%. During the quarter, we won incremental new tenders, which will start delivering incremental sales from Q3 and Q4 of 2024/2025. For the last 5 quarters, we have increased our overall value of wins in tenders.
This is in large part due to cost optimization efforts, which has led to increased competitiveness in the tender segment. Our overall share of the German generic market is increasing steadily quarter on quarter and currently stands at 6.1% for the quarter, with Torrent ranked number five in Germany in the overall generics business. In the U.S., we registered constant currency revenues of $31 million, down by 13%. Adjusted for one-off income in Q1 of the previous year, constant currency degrowth is at 9%. Sequentially, U.S. business delivered stable revenues backed by new contracts. During the quarter, U.S. FDA inspected our manufacturing facility at Indrad, and at the end of the inspection, we got a Form 483 with five observations.
Torrent has responded to the U.S. FDA within the stipulated time, and we expect to hear back from the U.S. FDA in the next 90 days. I would like to conclude by stating that our focus will remain on deepening our presence in the branded generic markets of Brazil, Mexico, et cetera, while continuing to grow in Germany and returning to profitable growth in the U.S.
Jasu, we can open the call to questions now, please.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. First question is from the line of Neha Manpuria from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question. Aman, my first question is on the India business. We saw 15% growth in this quarter, which seems pretty strong, given we already have Curatio in the base. Could you give us some color on how, you know, how we should assume growth for the India business? Is this growth rate sustainable? And also, any color that you can give us on the Curatio asset that now it's been fully integrated, what's the traction that we are seeing there?
Yeah. So the breakup of the 15% growth, roughly based on the AIOCD data for the quarter is 2.5% volume, 8.5% price, and 4% new products. This is all fully organic, driven because Curatio is in the base. The Curatio business grew at 19% during the quarter, so it's seeing continued high growth traction in almost all the top brands. In terms of margins of the Curatio business, also we see consistent improvement now, quarter on quarter. So in terms of acquisition integration, I believe we are on track or even slightly ahead of where we anticipated to be, as the growth momentum should continue.
Going ahead, depending on how the market growth plays out, 15% was a Q1 growth, but I think somewhere between 13% or low-teen growth for the rest of the year should be doable.
Understood. That's helpful. And, Sudhir, on the, margins, like, you know, gross margin expansion, again, this quarter was, pretty significant, if I look at it from a quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year perspective. How much of this is sustainable? You know, is that - is this a level we should be able to maintain? I understand there's some mixed benefit because of higher India growth, this quarter. And also, if you could give us some color on what the INR 20 crore one-off was related to.
Yeah. So I think from a gross margin perspective, Neha, last year, if you look quarter-on-quarter, I was between 74.5% to 75% which I believe is something which should be sustainable. So 75% should definitely be sustainable, right? The additional 0.7% which we got in this quarter, probably because India has done much better and the branded mix, the branded segments have done better than the generic segments, possibly attributable to that. But I think definitely 75% is something which should be possible for the full year, is what I believe. The INR 20 crore one-off expenses pertains to one of the potential international opportunities which we were evaluating and finally didn't materialize actually. So that's the expenses which we have incurred in quarter one.
Okay, got it. And sorry, if I may squeeze in, one more. I know, I might sound like a broken tape here, Sudhir, but, capital allocation, how should we think about it?
Well, I think the way you should look at, Neha, is that, FY 2026, I think I should be net cash, right?
Yeah.
And therefore, whatever EBITDA generation or cash flow generation is happening, that would await capital allocation to be done, right? And, I think acquisitions have been part, a integral part of our growth story. And that's something which we will continue to pursue, as long as we believe that it's going to create a long-term shareholder value.
Given that you mentioned we, you know, there was an international opportunity that we were pursuing, it's fair to assume that we are also open to looking at larger deals outside of India? On which focus markets would these be in then?
Yeah, I mean, if it's a good asset, Neha, definitely, yes. But provided everything fits into the financial framework which we follow, right? In terms of creating value.
Understood. Thank you so much, Sudhir.
Yeah.
Thank you. Before we move to the next question, a reminder to the participants, to ask a question, you may press star and one. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may press star and one on your touchtone telephone. Next question is from the line of Damayanti Kerai from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, and thank you for the opportunity. My first question is on the U.S. business. So, quarter-on-quarter is broadly stable. So just wanted to understand how supplies from the Dahej plant is picking up, because Indore is yet to clear. So I assumed, when we got clearance for Dahej, there was expectation of better pickup to happen here. So some color on the U.S. business, please.
Right, so, the supplies from both Indore and Dahej have been stable, right? Because our current business was not impacted by any of the FDA actions. So what we are seeing now is a lot of site transfers are getting approved from Dahej. So gradually, the products which were made in Indore are now being made at Dahej. So the volumes have remained about 4 billion pills a year, and the mix is changing, with Indore coming down and Dahej is ramping up appropriately.
So, are we expecting, like, run rate to pick up slightly better than what is your trend in last two quarters or so?
No, that will depend upon new approvals, right? So, we are expecting some new approvals to start coming in, hopefully also from India. We have some good filings from India, which are still left in our portfolio. So as soon as the, you know, the approvals start coming in, that will lead to a change in the base of business. It's not really linked to supply. We don't have supply constraints in terms of capacity constraints.
Sure. You mentioned one of the objective for this year is to improve profitability of U.S. business. Right now it's profitable or, like you said, loss-making segment?
I'll let Sudhir answer that. Sudhir?
Can you repeat the question, Damayanti?
I was asking, one of the objective which you mentioned in your opening remark is, improving profitability of the U.S. business. So currently, I just want to understand whether it's profitable or it's a loss-making segment?
I think pre-R&D expenses, we are break even, kind of break even for the U.S. business. That's what Sanjay was implying, that we want to move towards a profitable path, as far as U.S. is concerned, post R&D.
Sure. And, my second question on India business. So on the consumer health segment, if you can just talk about the progress in key brands and what kind of marketing and promotional expenses you intend to incur for the brands there?
Yeah. So the key brand, which is Shelcal 500, has grown at 17%, for the quarter. And again, this may not entirely reflect in the external data sets, given that it has a different set of stockists. So this is the internal number of the consumer plus RX growth of the brand. We think high teens growth looks sustainable in the next few quarters. We are continuing our base level of advertising spends and retail activation. The overall spends this year in consumer are slightly higher than last year. So I think that what's there in this quarter should remain similar in the upcoming quarters in terms of percentage spends.
Okay. So A&P will broadly remain at the current quarter level, going ahead, and then, you intend to grow, like, top line by better, better engagement, et cetera?
That's right. Broadly similar, based on seasonality for some products, there may be some higher spends by INR 5 crore-INR 7 crore in a quarter, for example, but that shouldn't be too material. Broadly, what's captured right now is the rest of the year A&P spends.
Okay. And consumer is what percentage of India business right now, in terms of value contribution?
So we had mentioned last time also that we don't look at this separately in terms of contribution to sales, because it's part of the RX business and consumer. So we look at the spend separately, but the overall top line is seen as one business together. And this is essentially capturing Shelcal, Tedibar, Ahaglow and Unienzyme, which are the four key brands. Shelcal 500 is somewhere in the vicinity of INR 300 crores. Unienzyme is about INR 150 crores , Tedibar is close to INR 140 crores , INR 150 crores , and Ahaglow is about INR 80 crores- odd . This is the broad kind of base that we have. We are looking at maybe adding one more product towards the end of the year relevant to this.
Sure. That's very helpful. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Next question is from the line of Tushar M. from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Am I audible?
Yes, you are. Please go ahead.
Just on the Germany business, if you could, while you have already highlighted in the comments that it will pick up in the coming quarters, but broadly, what kind of, you know, sort of growth for FY 2025 one should think about for Germany business?
Germany is usually in the range of mid to high single digits. If we keep getting trends, it will be towards the high single digit growth rate.
Got you. And, also on Brazil, while I missed the opening remarks, so, where the floods have impacted say Q1, but, let's say on a full year basis, how to think about the growth, given that, you know, we have good number of launches, plus an interesting launch, in totally off FY 2025?
Correct. So Brazil, you know, in previous calls also, we've highlighted that the long-term trend is similar to what we see in IQVIA. So it, timely sales tend to be lumpy, depending upon, you know, timing issues, that crop up from time to time, channel inventory, et cetera. But, over a, over a period of two, three, four quarters, we've seen that Brazil has always grown in line with IQVIA trends. And currently, IQVIA is showing us a MAT and a quarter growth of about 12% for Torrent. So I would say that this is a good indicator of where we, we are with our business currently. So I would say between, you know, 12, 13% is a underlying growth rate for our Brazilian business.
All right. That's clear. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may press star and one on your touchtone telephone. Next question is from the line of Saion Mukherjee from Nomura Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening. So we've just one question on the acquisition. So if you're looking at international markets, I mean, are you interested in new markets? Are you looking at branded piece, like what you have in Brazil? Or you would be interested in generics and some sort of technology acquisition? What are the areas that would interest you at this point?
Saion , branded, definitely yes, right? I mean, but we're not restricting, looking at asset which is only branded, focused. If there are some good assets which are even in the generic segment, it's something which we would look at and then decide whether we want to go that way or not, but branded definitely is a priority.
Okay. And would that be in the markets you already have presence, like Brazil, Mexico, or you could look at, completely new markets, you know, where you would sort of set your base?
Yeah, I mean, a combination of both, right? I mean, new market, definitely yes, and even within the existing market, if there are entry possibility in terms of the other therapies where I'm not present, that's something which is also open to pursue.
Okay. My next question would be to Sanjay. Sanjay, I mean, I think a few quarters back, you mentioned U.S. business once the facilities are cleared, ramping up to $250 million or $200 million kind of an annualized revenue in two years or so. How do you assess that at this point? Do you think that's still achievable?
So it honestly depends upon the NDA approvals that we get, right? So, so far, we've seen the first wave of approvals from the U.S. FDA come in, but they have been more on the site transfer approvals rather than new NDA approvals. So I think, you know, I was expecting about seven-eight approvals this year, most of them in the next three quarters. So depending upon how it goes, there we have a couple of expectation is for a couple of oncology approvals, some approvals, which could have an upside in terms of lesser competition. So that will drive the sales growth. So I would still expect between 5-10 approvals this year that would propel us forward, and next year onward, it should be a higher rate.
Okay, and the limited competition opportunities you expect in this fiscal or next fiscal?
I would expect in this fiscal, but again, you know, it's, you don't have it until you have it, right? So there are other people also trying for the similar opportunities. So we'll see who comes out ahead.
Okay, great. Just one last question. Can you share your R&D number and also what's the expectation or what are, what is it that you are factoring in as a full year spend?
So currently, it's around 5%, and I don't think it is going to be materially different for the full year. So I think 5% is the number for this year.
Okay. Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you. Participants, to ask a question, you may press star and one on your touchtone telephone. Next question is from the line of Sumit Gupta from Centrum Broking. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, so in the domestic market, what is the MR count currently and, by FY 2025, how much do you plan to take it to?
The MR number in Q1 was 5,700, and we had mentioned last quarter that we expect maybe 300-400 reps addition by the end of the year.
Okay. And so second question is on the tax rate. So you still maintain 25% tax rate for the FY 2025?
No, FY 2025 should be around 30%, the same as quarter one. And maybe from second year, I mean, from next year, I should start getting into the new tax regime from India perspective, so overall tax should be around 26%-27%.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Participants, to ask a question, you may press star and one. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. Next question is from the line of Vibha Ravi from Citeline. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes, you are.
Okay. So, I just wanted to know what is the acquisition strategy going to be going forward, you know, whether the company will be looking at brands, via slump sale, or is it also looking at stake acquisitions from, say, promoters or from PE firms?
I think it's a very complex question. I think all along what we've done, the acquisitions which we have done is either, a business transfer through slump sale and, company acquisition, which was the recent one, right, Curatio, which we did. So all combinations open, I would say. Mm-hmm. I think thinking would be more in getting 100% stake of whatever we plan to acquire.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Bansi Desai from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for taking my question. My first question is on Indrad. We did see, you know, observations, and a couple of them were repeat in nature. So how should we think of, you know, resolution timeframe for this particular plant of ours?
So we would expect a response in the October timeframe from the FDA, and we think there's a high likelihood that the FDA would approve the plant, and the plant would be VAI or NAI. But we'd still like to wait and see, because there were five observations, and so we cannot be sure that it'll be 100%.
Okay, but response has gone from our side, and we are now awaiting FDA to kind of, you know, comment on that.
Correct. There is a little bit more heavy procedure for a plant with the baggage that Indrad has for it to be reviewed inside the FDA and for the OAI to be changed. So it is, you know, a higher level of approval, I think, so it takes some time, yeah. But by October should be there.
Okay, thanks for that. My second question is on Curatio . You mentioned that even quarter-over-quarter, we have seen improvement in profitability there. Do we still have scope of improvement in that asset?
Yes, we do. Still some way to go.
Okay, that's great. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Tushar M. from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity again. So just on price hike in the India market, it's been now almost, you know, three, four years where similar kind of price hikes are being taken at the portfolio level. We just like to understand, you know, how sustainable this is, in terms of, you know, subsequently having the growth in your business based on the price hike.
Yeah, it's been broadly in this range last couple of quarters, and possibly should be okay too in the next couple of quarters as well. Beyond that, we don't have exact visibility, but should not be materially different. Some quarters here and there, there's a bit of a mix change, so reflection sometimes is higher or lower, but the 6.5%-8% price growth is what I think should be should continue.
Even largely on the similar set of the products within the portfolio, if you could clarify?
Similar set, meaning?
So, let's say, across the portfolio, across the therapies, there are different brands and products that, let's say, over the past two, three years, the kind of price hikes you have taken is broadly for the same set of products or brands, or it's, you know, different in different years.
Yeah, it could be different across years. Depending on competitive situation, every year we take a call and, based on overall, absolute pricing also, sometimes that takes a-- we decide whether to take an increase or not take an increase. So I would say it's very varied every year.
Just lastly on the U.S., generally while the sales has been pretty stable quarter-over-quarter, but any comment on the price erosion on the base quarter?
Similar to previous quarters, I would say mid-single digit type of price erosion continues, and we are able to compensate for it by increased market share and some small launches here and there.
Do you still continue to see the API prices falling for your U.S. generic portfolio, per se?
Sudhir, you want to comment on API prices?
We don't see any material impact on the API prices from our perspective.
Understood. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Participants, to ask a question, you may press star and one. We have our next follow-up question from the line of Neha Manpuria from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question again. Aman, on the India business, you know, if you were to hear the commentary and the strategy of some of the peers in the industry, everybody seems to be focusing on the chronic business. And we still see, you know, Torrent doing particularly well in the chronic segment. One, have we changed the approach of how we are, you know, continuing to gain market share, given competition? I know competition has always been there, but, you know, has there been any change and therefore change in the way we look at the India business strategy? And, you know, is there a risk that, you know, either trade generic or, you know, the new competition could slow that growth in the chronic business?
Just your views on, you know, our chronic growth versus the competition.
Yeah, there has been a change, I would say, because obviously last couple of years, everyone in the market has been focusing more on the chronic side. So there had to be a response to kind of counter that or ensuring that at least we don't lose market share and try to gain market share. And a lot of that has been addressed through the expansion activities that we've undertaken over the last 12 to 18 months, which I believe are now showing meaningful results. So that particularly in the cardiac, diabetes side are looking at positive at the moment. Another thing on the cardiac side, particularly, if you recall, we had a high dependence on Losar, which was our number one brand.
It's still our number one brand, and there has been a systemic kind of approach to de-risk our cardiac portfolio from Losar, because it's a very low growth brand now, because it's a less preferred molecule. We now have adequate growth engines in place to kind of de-risk Losar completely so that it doesn't affect our overall cardiac growth. So Losar is our number one ranked brand right now. I think in the next couple of quarters, it will drop down the rank because there are brands growing significantly faster, and by next year, I think Losar should be down to rank number three.
So all these are the measures that we've taken to counter the recent change in the market, and we believe this is a sustainable rate of growth in the chronic side, at least within 1% or 2%, should be okay to sustain.
Understood. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Praful Bohra from InCred. Please proceed.
Yeah, hi, Sudhir bhai, the 12%-13% growth that you mentioned in Brazil, this is in constant currency, or the reported growth?
No, constant currency.
Yeah, actually, with the recent movement in Brazilian real, it's almost come up from 16.5% to 14.9%. How does this impact our overall growth numbers and key margins in Brazil?
So, while revenues go down in terms of IMR, the expenses also go down similarly, right? And therefore, to the extent of the profitability, which Brazil has, that could be the impact which would be seen from a bottom-line perspective. And Brazil, today, for us, is 10% of our revenue. That's the way to look at it. So the impact would not be significant.
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you. Next follow-up question is from the line of Vibha Ravi from Citeline. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. This is with relation to Takeda, the Vonoprazan deal. Can you hear me?
Yeah, we can hear you.
Yes.
Right. So this is with regard to the Vonoprazan deal with Kabvie. Since Takeda is now licensed to others like Zydus and Dr. Reddy's, so do you expect your, you know, the growth trajectory, you spoke about, you know, positive response on launch, but how do you expect this trajectory to be affected? And second question is also, in continuation kind of to what Neha had asked earlier. So do you expect, you also spoke about more licensing deals. So do you expect them to be in the same areas where you're already currently strong, or you're looking at certain white spaces where you would like to grow? Thanks.
Yeah. So the Takeda license was always non-exclusive, so, you know, there was always the likelihood of more players coming in. It should not materially change the trajectory of our current brand. There may be some loss of market share, but the absolute value should be quite reasonably good, I would say, for the year. Wouldn't want to comment as of now on what the annual sales could look like, because it's only been one month of launch, one and a half months of launch. Maybe next quarter, we can share some light on that, but as of now, we remain rank one in the market. In terms of licensing deals, we prefer to add in our existing therapy areas, but we haven't restricted it to that.
If there is any new interesting opportunity in a non-core focus area, that's something that also we are open for as well.
Ms. Vibha, does that answer your question?
Yes, it does. Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Aarti Rai from Equirus Wealth Advisories. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thanks for taking my call. I had a question on the margin. So during the last quarter, Q4, we did mention that there's a possibility of a margin expansion say around 50-100 basis points. This was post, I mean, factoring for the consumer health business that spends around that, and U.S. being a very important driver at top and bottom line. So does that still hold true, or, there have been some changes there, I mean, with respect to the margin expansion that you're looking at for the full year?
No, no. I think the guidance given holds true. So on a full year basis, you should see that margin improvement happening.
Okay. So given, I mean, the question comes in light where the U.S. sequentially remains flat, so, and that was supposed to be one of the key drivers as well.
Yeah. I think for the subsequent quarters, you'll see some of the other launches coming in as far as U.S. is concerned. At least that should drive positively to the overall performance of the company. That is what was implied earlier.
Perfect. Thank you.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Next follow-up question is from the line of Sumit Gupta from Centrum. Please proceed.
Hi. Thank you for the opportunity again. So just one clarification on the U.S. business. So you said that you expect U.S. business to be profitable post R&D. So by when? Is it next quarter, or can you please explain the timeline?
So I think I cannot predict that, because it all depends upon the new product launches, which will span out over the next two or three years. And depending upon what kind of revenue sizes we have on all those product launches, it'll depend, when we can be, within, the profitable zone. And I think the indication for you is that, so long we didn't have any new product launches, so it was quite negative, on the overall performance, from U.S. But with the new product launches coming in, at least from overall, performance perspective, U.S. is going to be positive. I think that's the way to look at, for the next two to three years.
Okay. And so with the, for the next five to, or the overall 5-10 approvals that you are targeting, so it will be including oncology, right?
Correct, correct.
Okay. Apart from oncology, also, are there other therapeutic areas, significant therapeutic areas?
Yeah, I mean, it's a diversified portfolio, and as you said, one of the therapeutic areas is oncology, which will play out.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Srikanth from Nuvama. Please proceed.
Hi, good evening. Just one question on the domestic portfolio. The two products that we have in our portfolio, Unienzyme and Vizylac, both have been doing quite well, and in fact, in the ongoing quarter, they have done quite a strong growth. So if you can explain what is happening here, and how should we look at the future for these two products? Thank you.
Yeah, I think this quarter was higher growth than the usual run rate, probably because also particularly in Vizylac, last year, the acute season was a bit weak in Q1. So this year, I think that has kind of normalized. But going ahead, both Unienzyme and Vizylac, we believe low teens growth is, is what should be doable.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Abdulkader Puranwala from ICICI Securities. Please proceed.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. So just one question. In your earlier remarks, you mentioned that Losar will slip to number three next year. So could you highlight, you know, which are the brands in the cardiac portfolio which is growing faster? And, you know, when we're talking about de-risking the entire cardiac portfolio, I mean, and going ahead, how should we look at from a new product launches perspective as well?
Well, we'd be better off sharing the brands once this rank change happens for competitive reasons, but there are adequate levers in place to at least ensure that the Losar-related slowdown in the cardiac portfolio doesn't really remain a concern anymore. There are at least kind of four-five different brands that have been selected and targeted over the last 12-18 months for this purpose. Those markets are all kind of future growth markets, where we have a very strong market share position. In terms of new launches, currently, nothing significant is expected in cardiac specifically. Some of the launches that we did last year were anticipated to do well, but somehow have not picked up in terms of prescriptions, so they may take a longer period.
That's usually the case in some of these niche molecules. They take time to get prescription traction. So, not much of new launches in cardiac at the time. It will be more of the existing brand which will drive the growth.
Understood, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may press star and one. Next follow-up question is from the line of Vibha Ravi from Citeline. Please proceed.
Yeah, please forgive me if you've answered this question earlier, but at least I didn't hear it on this call. So the Pen G plan was to begin commercial production from the first quarter from this quarter, right? Q1, FY 2025. So has that happened? If you can give, give us an update on that. And second is, what is the reason of transferring, you know, this, antibiotic and non-antibiotic business to [audio distortion] Aurobindo?
Was I audible? No, I think your voice is not audible clearly. I mean, can you repeat the question?
Yes. I said please forgive me if you answered this, this question I'm asking, right now, earlier. But, the Penicillin plant was to begin commercial production in the first quarter, which is the quarter we're talking about, right? Has that happened? If you could give us an update on that. And second--
Just hold on. I think you got it wrong, actually. I think the Penicillin plant to start in quarter one was Aurobindo, not Torrent, is what I think.
Yeah, please, please forgive me for the question. Yeah, that's it. I, I don't have a question then. Thanks. I apologize.
Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their telephone. As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Executive Director, International Business, for the closing comments.
Yeah, just like to thank you for your interest in Torrent, and, we remain available to answer all queries going forward. Thank you very much. Have a good day.
Thank you. On behalf of Torrent Pharma, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.