Thank you. Good day and Welcome to the Q1 FY 2026 Earnings Conference Call of Orchid Pharma Limited, hosted by Systematix Institutional Equities. As a reminder, all participants are 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 touchscreen phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Vishal Manchanda from Systematix Institutional Equities. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Musk an, and good evening, everyone. On behalf of Systematix Institutional Equities, I welcome you to the Q1 FY 2026 Earnings Call of Orchid Pharma. We thank Orchid Management for giving us an opportunity to host the call today. We have with us the senior management of the company, represented by Mr. Manish Dhanuka, Managing Director, Mr. Mridul Dhanuka, Whole-time Director, and Mr. Sunil Kumar Gupta, Chief Financial Officer. I now hand over the call to the company management for their opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Vishal. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Manish Dhanuka, Managing Director of Orchid Pharma Limited, and I welcome you all to our discussion on the results of the first quarter of the financial year 2026. I will take you through our performance for the quarter, share updates on our key strategic initiatives, and outline our priorities for the year ahead. First, the financial year performance for Q1 2026. For this quarter, our sales stood at INR 173 crore, compared with INR 244 crore in the same period last year. This is a huge decline of around 29%. This performance must be seen in the context of an unprecedented global slowdown in the antibiotics market. The current environment is unlike anything we have seen in the last five years, with both prices and volume under pressure.
Despite this, we have tried to maintain our gross margins at around 42% and have consciously chosen not to participate in the ongoing price war. This has been achieved through disciplined pricing, a more resilient product mix, and continued optimization of input costs. Operational EBITDA for the quarter was INR 14 crore. On the corporate employee expenses and other operating costs, they remain broadly flat in absolute terms, even as we continue to invest in our strategic growth initiatives. Market outlook. The antibiotics industry is currently facing one of its sharpest short-term contractions in recent memory. Our analysis of exports out of India showed that for the quarter, overall quantity of oral antibiotics exports fell by about 30%, while average export prices dropped by about 15%- 20%. This double impact of lower volumes and lower prices has created a challenging environment for all the players.
In such a scenario, Orchid has focused on preserving value by moderating our product mix and maintaining margins. Rather than chasing volumes in a crowded market through aggressive price cuts, we believe that a disciplined approach will protect long-term positioning and profitability once the markets stabilize. Now, on the strategic initiatives. Coming to our strategic initiatives, I am pleased to announce that following our update last quarter on Allecra's insolvency and the resulting uncertainty around Orchid's royalty scheme, Orchid has now acquired the global right to Enmetazobactam and the trademark Exblifep from Allecra. This is a transformative development for Orchid, giving us complete control over the regulatory and commercial strategy for this novel antibiotic worldwide once the acquisition is formally completed. Orchid now becomes the only Indian pharmaceutical company that can call itself the innovator of a new chemical entity that is internationally approved.
While the commercial terms for this deal are confidential, I can assure you that the transaction is economically significant. All future economic benefits from the product will now accrue to Orchid Pharma. The double-digit royalties previously receivable by Allecra from ADVANZ in Europe will now come directly to us. Globally, the product has already been licensed in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa markets, and we are in advanced sales discussions for several other geographies. The U.S. market remains elusive for now. Our immediate focus will be to identify and resolve the challenges that Allecra faced in the past and put in place a robust plan for a U.S. entry. Orblicef, our brand in India. Our domestic brand Orblicef continues to perform steadily. The combination of Ciplas' extensive hospital coverage and our AMS division's targeted engagement ensures we are building sustained subscriber awareness.
Demand patterns remain consistent with our expectations. Antimicrobial stewardship, the AMS division, continues to expand its engagement with hospitals and clinicians, focusing on responsible antibiotic use and AMR awareness. While still in the investment phase, it is helping position Orchid as a trusted partner in critical care antibiotics. This platform will also be a key success factor in driving the adoption of Cefiderocol in India, given its position in the hospital segment and the specialized subscriber base it serves. An update on the 7ACA project in Jammu. The 7ACA project is progressing in line with our revised timelines. Construction continued during the quarter, and the procurement of major engineering equipment is completed. Once operational, the facility will strengthen our API capabilities, reduce import dependencies, and deliver the cost synergy as expected. The Cefiderocol project is going on track as per the expected timeline.
Even as we invest in new projects and differentiated products, operational discipline remains central to our approach. Maintaining cost competitiveness in an inflationary environment while safeguarding margins in a declining market speaks about the resilience of our operating model. I'm now going to discuss some of the risks and challenges that we face in the current environment. Persistent volume and price pressure in antibiotics could weigh on the near-term revenues. At this stage, we see no revival in the near future, at least not in the current year. There may be some risks related to the insolvency acquisition of Enmetazobactam from Allecra. As you are aware, insolvency acquisitions are conducted on an as-is-where-is basis in a quadrant quarter. There is limited time to perform detailed due diligence.
Although this acquisition involves intangibles and we have good visibility on what we have acquired, once the acquisition is formally completed, we will need to obtain more details and assess any implications. Our priorities remain, as on today, our main priorities would be to take control of and then expand the licensing of Exblifep across the globe, deepen penetration of Exblifep in India, progress the construction of the 7ACA project in Jammu , maintain margin discipline while selectively investing in high-impact growth areas. With the deviant control of Enmetazobactam , a stable domestic hospital presence, and strategic backward integration underway, Orchid is positioned to navigate near-term pressures while laying the groundwork for future growth. In closing, I want to thank our employees, partners, and investors for their support. Financial statistics will be about bracing for a multi-year disciplined execution, protecting profitability, and positioning for growth as the markets evolve.
Thank you for your attention. I now welcome all questions.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions may press star and one on the touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets for lasting questioning. Ladies and gentlemen, we wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Rupesh from Shree Rama Managers PMS. Please go ahead.
Hi sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I must congratulate you, both Mridul and Manish, for resolving this matter fairly quickly of Allecra insolvency where the speed was uncontrollable. My question is, I mean, Allecra is out-licensed to ADVANZ PHARMA. Now, whatever royalty ADVANZ PHARMA was going to pay to Allecra, that will now accrue to us. Is there some change in that part?
There is effectively no change in that part. Once the transaction is completed, it's subject to certain CPs right now. We will take over the role of Allecra in the existing agreement. Whatever was the commercial interest which was due to them will now become due to Orchid.
Okay. Our share initially, I thought, was high single digit, which now goes to double digit, mid-double digit. Is that fair? Okay. Okay. Any cash outflow indication you can give for this transaction? You have done, maybe you have given in press release and I missed it.
As per the terms of the agreement, it's confidential, especially right now because the CPs are also non-competent. We will only make the mandatory disclosure regarding the price in the report as needed.
Maybe let me ask you another way. Is it significant to our equity base? Do we have to take significant debt to fund this acquisition? Let me ask you this way. I don't need an exact number.
No debt will be taken to fund this acquisition.
Okay. I also heard you said that this is now also out-licensed in the Middle East.
That's correct.
Right. That is like which company, how many markets in the Middle East? Some color around that would be very helpful.
It is out-licensed for Saudi Arabia, entire UAE, and South Africa to a Swiss pharma company called Acino Pharma.
Okay. This was done by Allecra, but now we're taking over, or this is a new development.
This is done by Allecra only. Right now, we don't have control. We have signed the agreements. Like I said, it's subject to certain approvals from the government. We are just waiting for that. Till the time, it has been done by Allecra only.
Okay. The other question usually is for the important markets. Can you give an idea about the frequent expiry of Enmetazobactam ? I think some markets are 2034, some markets are 2031, but it would be good to hear it from you. Maybe let's say, US, Europe, UK, Japan, India, these five markets. Maybe rough idea about the expiry shipping date.
Yeah, country to country, like you said, it's a bit complex. U.S., I can confirm it's 2024, early 2024.
2034.
34, sorry. Yeah. Other countries, Europe also is similar, you know, 2024 because the pay trades are fine at similar times, and exclusivity periods are also similar. There is an ongoing feedback with study for this, which might extend the exclusivity by some time, but that's all to be understood and sometime in the future. Right now, only, early 2024 is what we can say.
2034, right, for investment?
I am really sorry. Early 2034.
Okay. It makes a big difference. Sorry. Okay. How is the response to Enmetazobactam in India? If you can give a number, maybe 45, 25 between shipliners. Where is it? We have always said that it's a Penem-resisting, Penem-sparing antibiotic, but maybe if you can give some order in some SOP where it is used.
With respect to the number of patients, you said last time, 10,000 patients, roughly. That's the volume till last year. We'll be reporting this maybe once in a year or maybe twice in a year. Quarterly numbers can change due to our supply to Cipla and their supply to market. Some of those will be confidential also. We will keep you broadly informed of the overall basis number that we are reading.
With revenue, you're not ready to divulge.
As per our agreement with Cipla, we cannot .
Okay. Where is the Avibactam sales overall, if you can give some idea? I think that probably should be the benchmark for us. Where, I mean, not our Avibactam sales. If you can give our Avibactam sales, that would be good. Overall, what is the Avibactam brand sales in India, if you know?
See, first of all, this molecule should not be compared with Avibactam because that is a Pfizer molecule, and that is a large line, you can say, the reserve category of antibiotic, and that is used in extreme cases. Whereas this, we are trying to create a position where this can be used as a first line of antibiotic. This is used because the first line of piperacillin, tazobactam, and ceftriaxome has developed significant resistance. Our experience has been that the hospitals are very well accepting the fact that these first-line antibiotics are not working, and the doctors are compelled to prescribe meropenem, which, as per the standard protocols, should not be done. Our target is to replace these first-line antibiotics and prevent meropenem from being prescribed.
The comparison would not be nice, but since you asked the question, if I know correctly, Pfizer had made a very big brand of Avibactam. Despite being generic for now one and a half years, it has still continued to grow significantly. Of course, that has been promoted by multiple companies now. If you consider that if we succeed in making it a first-line molecule, then it has a significant potential.
In 10,000 patients so far, maybe some sort of phase four tracking you are doing. In some of these 10,000 patients, do you have some idea where it was used as a first line and where it was not used as a first line?
For the cUTI, it is the preferred choice now. Whichever hospitals we have promoted, it is very well accepted. The other indication that it is approved is for HFpEF . Our team is working with pulmonologists also to promote in that indication. These are the two indications.
Okay. Okay. The final question on Enmetazobactam is, I think, discussions for out-licensing in the U.S. I think that part was a little bit slow and always a source of irritation, I think, for you and for all the investors. Have you had some preliminary discussions? I know that you have to go through the process to take control of the asset.
Yeah. Allecra had hired some consultants. We are discussing with the consultant and trying to understand what are the challenges. Once we understand where was the gap between expectation of Allecra and of the prospective licensee, we'll try and find a via media route, to find a middle path where some agreement can be achieved with the prospective licensee. Maybe we will restart the discussion with these past companies with whom discussion was happening.
You have some aspiration that the deal in the US should be done in, let's say, six months after you take ownership of that, 12 months after you take ownership of that. At least the aspiration of the management, there will be integrity in whatever the deal is.
The most prudent thing would be to close the deal within a year, definitely, because the NDA, the registration, the whole process has been completed. Of course, you would like to optimize what you get out of the deal.
Thank you. Now, moving to Cefiderocol, once the Cefiderocol, just to be clear, is again a last-line treatment today, right? Is that a correct statement?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Okay. What has happened is Wockhardt has come up with Zidebactam, and I think Zidebactam will probably get an approval in India this year, sometime before March 2026, as per public information. Zidebactam, I think, is a significantly superior molecule to the Cefiderocol project. I think our planning, at least the Cefideroco l project, is significantly dependent on India and the emerging markets, right? How are you seeing things in this aspect? Maybe you can give some strategies or ideas or how you're approaching this.
In our understanding, I have not seen any comparison between Cefiderocol and Zidebactam. To the best of my knowledge, as on today, I mean, it would be difficult to comment on a molecule which is still under trial. As on today, Cefiderocol is the most potent antibiotic available. Whenever we go to the hospitals, and you know some people have read in the news that we have got the license for Cefiderocol, a lot of doctors are very curious to ask when this product is coming in the market. I really don't know where we got this.
Okay. Zidebactam's Phase III trials are completed. Maybe just to keep the record correct. Okay. Has Avibactam done the same thing in India? Any color around that? How big a brand has it been?
The molecule has really done well, I'd say. It's one of our good products as well.
We remain, I mean, in API, what would be our market share in API supply? How many brand players are there?
We would supply 60% of the market.
Okay. We supply the 60% of the market, and this is not for this we don't make the form.
I just.
I'll come back and let you know.
Yeah.
I'll come back and let you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Pranav from Lotus Wealth. Please go ahead.
Congratulations for a multi-billion dollar.
Speak, speak a little louder, please.
Oh, sorry. Congratulations for a multi-billion dollar acquisition for just EUR 28,500. My first question is, as to how Orchid Pharma will commercialize Enmetazobactam globally, whereas like Parsons and then multinational companies like Cipla or a global pharma company, since, as you mentioned, the patent will expire in 2034 in the U.S.?
Yeah. The selling model would be exactly the same as it is now maintained by Allecra. Orchid will license it out to companies across the world. As we were discussing on the previous question, for Europe, the EU market, and South Africa, the license is already done. Allecra was in advanced stages of discussion of several other markets. By the time the transaction is closed, hopefully, we may be able to announce a few more.
Okay. Quite a foreign question. Going forward, how much royalty are we expecting from China?
In China, there is currently no agreement with anyone. There is no forecast number or which I can share that this much royalty can come from China. The agreement that Allecra signed in the past no longer exists.
Okay. It's no longer in agreement. There's no agreement as of now.
No.
Also, one last question. Going forward, will we use the brand that is Exblifep or Orblicef brand globally for the commercialization?
Yeah. Because it's already developed and you know included in guidelines worldwide as Exblifep, we don't want to change the global brand name.
Okay. Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from the line of [Burman Sethy Suresh] from Burman Financials. Please go ahead. Yes, Mr. Suresh, go with the question, please. If there is no response from the participant, we'll move to the next. The next question is from the line of Viraj Parekh from Carnelian Asset Management. Please go ahead.
Good evening. Can I overrule? [audio distortion]
Thanks for the evening. I just had one follow-up question on the first participant's question. Wasn't clear on my end. For this acquisition, will it be enough from internal accruals, or will we have to take some external debts to fund the Allecra acquisition?
Yeah, it will be enough from internal accrual. No debt will be taken.
Right. Second question, sir. We've seen t he for Orchid Pharma. I think the resolution for the merger of Dhanuka Labs also is going through, so if you can have some indication of the annual performance we are forecasting for Dhanuka Labs as well since it will be two in March. If you can give us an idea on that front as well, it would be helpful.
Gupta, can you explain the 31st March numbers?
Yeah. Sir, actually, March 2025, so we have closed our sale at INR 503 crore, and EBITDA was INR 44 crore.
Sir, my question was more in relation to FY 2026 outlook for Dhanuka Labs. We are seeing a 30% decline in Orchid Pharma for the current quarter. I'm not asking for a short-term estimate of a quarterly number for Dhanuka Labs, but if you can get an annual forecast of how this INR 500 crore would pan out for FY 2026 for the company, given that it's a little bit of a low-margin company than Orchid Pharma as well on an EBITDA level.
See, I mean, we expected to have a significant growth in Dhanuka Labs also, but considering the market conditions that are prevailing, I think it would be difficult to give a guidance on that at this point of time. We really have to see what has really triggered such a huge decline in the market conditions. Until we really do an assessment, it would not be proper to give any estimates. We are just trying to understand the reasons for this and how this recovery will happen and what we can do to tide over this challenge.
I think next six months, it should be over. I mean, the results of the EGM have already been accepted by the judge, and now the final formalities will have to be done. We have a hearing in the end of September. If all authorities give permission by then, I think final verdict should come in that or maybe in the next hearing after that.
Manish, in your opinion, I'm not sure the scope of the time was and the demand was really, really not supporting the capacity which has come up in the antibacterial agents, given that Dhanuka Labs has also been in the market for some time. Even Orchid's significant portion of revenue comes from emerging markets. Maybe if you can give us some qualitative comment on terms of the market sentiment where both these companies have been overlapped, that will also be helpful for the investors.
Yeah. I mean, we cannot see any scientific or medical reasons that would reduce the demand with such a large percentage. I mean, all I can think of is maybe the turmoil that's going on and uncertainty in the market. We surrendered customers to maybe reduce inventories or not take any risks, reduce the investment. That could be the only reason I can think of why certain demand decreases there. I am optimistic that it should change in one or two quarters, and that would lead to a sudden recovery like what happened after the COVID. I don't see any reason for such a sudden decline in the market.
Right. Just last question before I get back into it. For a hypothetical situation, you may answer if you have. We don't have a lot of operational details of Dhanuka Labs , but given that this quarter has been quite worse for the entire sector, can there be a situation where we have a loss in Dhanuka Labs if the situation continues?
At this point of time, I don't think we have the numbers for the quarter, but there are some high-value items that Dhanuka also manufactures. We are not looking at such issues.
Got it, sir. Thanks a lot. All the way through. I'll get back in a few.
Thank you.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. Participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Rupesh from Shree Rama Managers PMS. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you for the follow-up. Just finishing on Avibactam. Avibactam formulation, is it part of our AMS division?
The AMS division is about 30, 40 products. Avibactam is just one of them.
Okay. We are also supplying formulations for Avibactam also in the market. Okay. Okay. Any indicative growth, any indication of how the market has expanded, or is it becoming done with any growth? There's some color around that, and it's fair to assume Avibactam will keep growing at a steady rate for three, four years.
I don't think, you know, after becoming generic, there has been a surge of new brands coming in the market. I think at last count, I remember 55 or 60 brands in the market. That resulted in, I would say, a significant growth at API stage. I'm not sure how much of liquidation that would have resulted in. I think once that demand or the pent-up demand because of the high price of Pfizer was met, I don't think there is a scope for this product to go exponentially in the future because, like PDG alluded, this is a last-resort product currently. It is used when other products don't work, where carbapenem resistance or meropenem resistance is dead.
Okay. Okay. Just concluding on Avibactam, we are still fourth to five in the US. What is the launch date? I probably forgot. I think for 2026 or 2028.
We had announced that we had received an RTR, and we are not fourth to five anymore.
We are not fourth to five anymore. Okay.
Yeah.
When is the patent expiry statement expiry for Avibactam?
The fourth to five launch date would be sometime August 27, and Orchid products would be available six months after that.
Six months after that. Okay. Okay. Where are we on the generics of newer generation antibiotics, Ceftaroline, Cefovecin? If you can give some color around your products.
The product stability is going on. The DMF is under preparation, and we are looking for some partners in those two products.
When and filing, can you put the year? It will be done in the next 12 months?
The DMF will be definitely filed.
The API DMF will be filed for sure. For the FDF, I cannot give a timeline.
For both the products, is that correct?
Yes, yes, both the products.
Okay. That is the other question. Is this 30% decline in export out of India and all of that. There is, correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no significant China competition in these products, or there is a significant China competition?
There is competition from China. The major product like C efovecin in India is much stronger than China, and the Chinese companies only cater to domestic demand. For the injectables , there is competition from China, but the overall demand has lessened for sure. There is no doubt about it.
Is a significant part of the demand driven by funding? Is that a speculation you can make or we can make?
I would say the overall sentiment is low. Maybe the pipeline inventories have gone down. That's what I am thinking.
Okay. Where are we on the penicillin crisis? When do you see the realization stabilizing?
Yeah. The penicillin prices have gone down significantly. That's why I feel that there is a demand flattening because the raw material prices have also gone down. It's the Chinese who are also buying a lot of raw materials, and raw material prices would still remain strong.
Do you think that people are waiting for PenG to bottom out and then try to hold the whole pricing to bottom out and then start refilling their inventory? Is that what you're trying to indicate?
That could also be a possibility.
Okay. Okay. On 7ACA, commissioning is Q1 FY 2027. Is that correct?
Yes, there is no change in what we mentioned last time. Yes.
Okay. Cefiderocol is December 26.
Yes.
Okay. Okay. 7ACA, PLI scheme, I mean, I think we're significantly behind the schedule. I don't know. There are written commitments, oral commitments that PLI benefits would be given.
I talked about it in the previous call. Every call we have to explain this, unfortunately. There are no written approvals. It means that this should be honored.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for answering my questions. All the best. Thanks.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Rahul from SW & Company. Please go ahead.
Hello. I'm [audio distortion]
Yes, yes, sir.
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for taking my question. Congrats on a great quarter. Basically, I have some questions regarding Exblifep. My question is, like the Allecra's bankrupt in the U.S., will Exblifep eventually be commercialized in the U.S., or by when it's going to be commercialized?
Once the acquisition is completed, we will find out licensing partners in the US and partner with them to launch. We are targeting to do that within one year of acquisition completion.
Okay. I have a follow-up question on that. Is there availability of automated testing for Exblifep as of now?
Unfortunately, I don't have this detail, but I think they were working on it. For India, we have developed that, so we are distributing those in India. I am assuming it would have been done for.
It's available. It's being used in Europe.
Yeah, just a few more questions. What are the target patients for Exblifep currently we are targeting?
The two indications: HFpEF and the cUTI.
Okay. One last question. What are the key target regions we are focusing on in the U.S. or universe? I mean, sorry.
Yeah. As we said, Europe is already licensed. Middle Eastern countries are already licensed. There are some discussions going on in Brazil and in Japan. U.S., there was some discussion in the past. These were the territories where the discussions were already initiated by Allecra. We are looking to expand this further to other regions also, like maybe Russia, Vietnam, and other countries as well. Maybe we will initiate those discussions after the takeover with them.
Okay, thank you very much for answering my questions.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Ankur, an Individual Investor. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes.
Hello.
Yes.
You know, you previously mentioned that the estimate for Enmetazobactam are expected to be between $150- $200 million per year. Now, can you give us a geographical distribution of that sales number you expect?
No, unfortunately not. You know, this number was just a forecast from our side. Right now, we don't have any details of the Allecra partnerships, what they have done, the agreement, the forecast, the sales, what is happening. Only after acquisition is completed, we'll be having a better picture.
I see. The royalty that you get from ADVANZ PHARMA, that's INR 7 billion. Are we looking to get a better deal with them or get the interesting drivers and see if we can improve that?
No, the deal is already signed. We are not looking to renegotiate anything.
Okay. There were also, I think, during that agreement with ADVANZ PHARMA, some milestone payment as the molecule is commercialized, and there are some milestone-based payments. Do we expect that also to be done?
I think most of the milestones are completed. If one or two are left, then that would accrue to us. Otherwise, most of the milestones with respect to ADVANZ PHARMA would have been completed.
Hello.
The initial milestones have already been paid to Allecra. Later on, some sales-related milestones are there. Once those are achieved, they might come to us. That's not going to be in the very near future.
Hello, this is Ankur. Hello? Oh, Mr. Ankur, does this answer your question? There's very small response from the participant. We'll move to the next. The next question is from the line of Sagar Arya from Xponent Tribe. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. [audio distortion]
Yes.
Yeah. Just a couple of questions. In the last call, you had mentioned that the EBITDA for the combined entity, that is Dhanuka and Orchid, would be about INR 175 crore. Now, in this call, you mentioned that Dhanuka did INR 42 crore of EBITDA in FY 2025. The math doesn't add up here. I think last call, we said they've done about INR 49 crore. Where is the gap here?
No, we said INR 39 crore.
39?
That was before the audited balances. We said INR 39 crore.
Okay.
After the finalization numbers, that was.
INR 42 crore. Okay.
Yeah, the provisional number is INR 39 crore. We have now, the project has gone down to INR 42.
Okay. Okay. Got it. Second is just to be clear, the agreement that Allecra had with ADVANZ PHARMA was for double-digit royalties on sales in Europe, correct?
As per the public information disclosed by Allecra on their website, it does take double digits.
Okay, what are double digits? How should we interpret double digits?
It's around 15%. Depending on the sales, it ranges from 14%-1 8%. If the sales go higher, the royalties will increase. I mean, we can assume 15% is on an average.
Understood. Got it. Lastly, earlier, we were also in discussions with Allecra. I know it didn't materialize, but we were in discussions for doing CDMO for Enmetazobactam as well. Now that we have ownership of the molecule, is that an option which is still on the table?
Yeah. That decision will be ours, but there are some commitments with the existing suppliers. We will honor that, and once our FDF unit is up and running, we will definitely try and get ourselves approved as an alternate supplier.
Okay. What would be a reasonable timeline if this were to happen, sir?
In regulated markets today, the bare minimum is three years, I would say.
Understood. Okay, got it. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rupesh from Shree Rama Managers. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity once more. I think one basic one. Is this German IBC, I mean, for the lack of a better term, German IBC process, when will it be completed? Any approximate timeline?
We expect it to take about three months.
You will have?
Hopefully, yes.
Okay. After the transfer of ownership, if, I mean, from now also, ADVANZ PHARMA owns some royalty or some royalty to Allecra, I don't know what will happen to that. We should have some view on that. The moment added ownership happens, the royalty will start accruing to us. Is that fair? There will be some delay?
No delay as such. It will happen when the consolidation of the transaction happens.
Are there any second bidder or third bidder who can raise some legal obstacles like that? How is that like a home run for us? We are the only bidder.
As far as my understanding goes, the process in Germany is different than India. There is nobody else who can contest this.
We have signed the agreement, which is just subject to conditions like the German government approving our foreign investment bid and some other basic requirements of the creditors approving and all that. As of now, our bid was the one that was accepted by the administrator.
Okay. It looks like a home run for us. The other question coming to Indian market is recently, a little bit of consolidation happened. One of the, I think, Northern-based players sold out his capacities in this sort of foreign space to another, I think, Hyderabad-based player. I'm sure that generally, consolidation means better pricing. Is that not a fair understanding outside of whatever is the demand trend and all of that is happening? Is that?
Yeah, that's what you would imagine. If the quotation goes from one less, you know, competitor, it should help.
Okay. At least over in the medium term, you expect that consolidation hopefully will help to keep the pricing discipline.
That's right. We have just three players in the market now.
Okay. Okay. This process, let's say IBC process, takes six months. Turning back to Enmetazobactam , whatever royalty is awarded in that time, we don't have any claim on that, or we can have some claim on that as well.
We will have claim for royalties after July 31.
That's all. We will have claim after July 31. Okay. I don't know how the product is doing at Allecra level. How many companies have they launched in, some idea?
It was launched just six months back. It takes time to develop the market. In this year, we don't expect significant numbers coming out of work. We expect the growth to happen in next year.
You are in discussion with ADVANZ PHARMA, and like some updates you will likely get as we go along.
Yeah, as of now, we will.
Yeah, when the acquisition is complete, we will have more visibility.
Okay. Thank you for answering all my questions for the number of these. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rohan from Envision Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Yes, sir. Yes, Mr. Rohan, go with the question, please. Hello, Mr. Rohan? Mr. Rohan, go with the question, please. As there is no response from the participant, we'll move to the next. A reminder to all the participants, you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from the line of Vishal Manchanda from Systematix Institutional Equities. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, with respect to the kind of volume pressures that we are seeing, are we also seeing this in our long-term contracts that we have with customers?
No, we don't foresee. I mean, there is some link to the main raw material prices. Maybe that correction will happen, but we don't see.
You mean people are waiting for the prices to correct, and that's why they are trimming their inventory levels. Is that the case?
Wherever we have long-term commitments, generally, plus minus 10% variation is there. They give annual forecasts. I don't see any significant change happening there, and we have not seen that trend in the first quarter also, wherever we have income.
Could you have tracked China data, like whether their exports have intensified in the emerging markets?
Unfortunately, no reliable data is available from China.
Okay. Okay. On Enmetazobactam , how quickly can we commercialize in emerging markets, the unregulated markets of the world?
We are actually studying the agreements that are in place. We don't want to do anything in a hurry where we violate any of the contracts that they would have signed. We will need to first study that. We want to do it as fast as possible. I would not say that you should expect that will happen very fast because, as you saw, in India, it took us almost a year and a half to register the molecule, despite doing a lot of R&D ourselves in Orchid. How the registration process will go around in the non-regulated markets, that's also to be seen. That's why I said that our lowest hanging fruit is if we can find a license in partner in the U.S. Then we have registration, the NDA, everything is done. That should be our first target.
Okay. Okay. Any sense on what pricing would be for this drug in the European markets where it is commercialized? Like per patient, per one treatment?
Yeah. Currently, I only have a gross price of $150 per vial. The net price and per patient price, I think I'm not aware as of now. This information we can show by next call, and I can share it.
Okay. Okay. And Enmetazobactam , can we manufacture the API in-house in case we need to do that?
Yeah, we are manufacturing for our domestic consumption.
Okay, you will need to kind of wait for the fixed dosage facility to be commercialized.
That's right. That's right.
Okay. Okay. Yeah, I think that's all for my side. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Raaj] from Arjav Partners. Please go ahead.
Yeah, I'm l audible?
Yes, sir.
I just wanted to know the overall market size of Enmetazobactam .
Currently, it's negligible. It's a new product. Market size saying is very difficult. If you look at the overall antibiotics market in the world, that's about $30 billion. Cefiderocol and Steranx typically command 1/3 of that. That's what antibiotic is. Enmetazobactam is a new product, so we can't give any size.
Like going to three years from now, how much should be the ideal size as per you?
Would you do quite a speculation, [Raaj] to talk about? Let's say we know that in four to five years, if it takes to reach the peak. By 2029 or something, we can expect the peak phase to have it. What that number is depends on which country it is licensed to, how many years that country has been selling. Ideally, Allecra could have licensed in the U.S. If it had been launched last year like Europe, maybe the sales would have picked up. Lots of variables around that. Differently was global.
All right. Yeah.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as that was the last session for the week, I would now hand the conference over to the management for the closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Muskan. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for participating in this conference. As we can see, we face some difficult market environment at present, but we feel we can tide over this time through resilience and focus. We thank you for your interest in the company, and this always motivates us to work harder. Thank you once again.
Bye-bye.
Thank you. On behalf of Systematix Institutional Equities, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.