Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Sun Pharma's Q3 FY 2026 financial results conference call. 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 call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then zero on your touchtone phone. I now hand the conference over to Dr. Abhishek Sharma, Vice President and Head of Investor Relations and Strategic Projects, for his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening, and a warm welcome to our third quarter FY 2026 earnings call. I welcome you all, especially, to have joined us on a Saturday. I'm Abhishek from the Sun Pharma Investor Relations team. We hope you have received the Q3 financials and the press release that was sent out earlier in the day. These are also available on our website. We have with us Mr. Dilip Shanghvi, Chairman, Mr. Kirti Ganorkar, Managing Director, Mr. Alok Shanghvi, Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Jayashri Satagopan, CFO, and Mr. Richard Ashcroft, CEO, North America. Today, the team will provide an update on financial performance and business highlights for the quarter, pipeline updates, and respond to any questions that you may have. We will refer to the consolidated financials for management comments.
The call recording and call transcript will also be put up on our website shortly. Just to add, in recent weeks, there has been speculation in media regarding Sun's M&A interest in certain companies. We have clarified to exchanges that the news is speculative in nature, and we will not be taking any questions in today's call regarding the news articles and their subject. The discussion today might include certain forward-looking statements, and these must be viewed in conjunction with the risks that our business faces. You are requested to ask two questions in the initial round. I also request all of you to kindly send in your questions that may remain unanswered today. I will now hand over the call to our CFO, Ms. Jayashri Satagopan.
Good evening, all. Welcome, and thank you for joining us for this earnings call after the announcement of financial results for the third quarter of FY 2026. Our Q3 financials are already with you. As you said, we will look at key consolidated financials of the company. During the third quarter of FY 2026, we recorded sales of INR 154,691 million, registering a growth of 15.1% vis-à-vis Q3 FY 2025. Besides the underlying business growth, we also had a milestone income of $55 million in Rest of the World in the third quarter. Ex-milestone, overall sales growth was 14.7%. In the corresponding quarter of FY 2025, Sun had received a milestone payment of $45 million.
Gross margin during the quarter was at 81%, higher than the same period last year, largely on account of better product mix. EBITDA for the quarter was INR 49,485 million, an increase of 23.4% over Q3 last year. EBITDA margins came in at 31.9%, higher both on a year-on-year and a quarter-on-quarter basis. Excluding the impact of milestone income, favorable Forex impact, and other operating revenues, the EBITDA margins for the company improved mostly on account of better product mix. During the quarter, an exceptional charge of INR 4,895 million was taken primarily on account of Wage Code gratuity as per ICAI guidelines and additional provision for Gx MDL final settlement.
Reported net profit after tax for Q3 FY 2026 was INR 33,688 million, up by 16% over Q3 last year. Adjusted net profit for the quarter was INR 35,367 million, up 9.9%. EPS for the quarter was INR 14 per share. Effective tax rate for the quarter was 24.3%, vis-à-vis 14.7% in the third quarter of FY 2025 and 24.7% in Q2 FY 2026. Forex gain during the quarter was INR 1,539 million. Our balance sheet continues to be strong, with a net cash of $3.2 billion at the consolidated level. Now, we will discuss the nine months' performance.
For the first nine months of FY 2026, sales was at INR 436,604 million, registering a growth of 11.3%. Gross margin was at 80% for the first nine months. EBITDA came in at INR 137,772 million, registering a growth of 19.2%, with a resulting EBITDA margin of 31.4%. Adjusted net profit for the nine months was INR 96,508 million, up by 6.1%. The board has declared an interim dividend of INR 11 per share for the year FY 2026, against INR 10.5 per share interim dividend for the previous year. I will now hand over the call to Kirti, who will share the performance of our global innovative medicines business and the India business.
Thank you, Jayashri. I shall first provide you an update on global innovative medicine business. In Q3 of FY 2026, our global innovative medicine sales were up 14.3% to reach $423 million. Ex milestone income, our global innovative medicine growth came in at 13.2%. An additional point on the milestone income, while Sun has had a milestone income in the last year, it may or may not recur in the future. Hence, you may treat it as one-off income. Our performance in innovative medicine business continues to be driven by a mix of growth in US and ex-US markets. Recently, we launched Enloxit in the US. During the quarter gone by, we have also introduced Ilumya in India. Early feedback for both the launches has been quite encouraging.
Coming to India business, for Q3, sales of formulation in India were INR 49,986 million, recording a growth of 16.2% over Q3 last year. India formulation sales accounted for 32.3% of total consolidated sales for the quarter. Sun Pharma is ranked number one and holds 8.4% market share in the over 2,407 billion Indian pharmaceutical market, as per Pharmarack MAT, December 2025. Corresponding market share for the previous period was 8.1%. For the quarter ending December 2025, we grew higher than the IPM, and we have done well across all major represented therapy areas. The sales growth continues to be led by higher contribution from volume and new product introduction as compared to the overall market.
Our volume growth of 6.3% for the quarter beat IPM volume growth, which is at 1.2%. As per SMSRC, July-October 2025 report, we continue to be the number one brand based on the prescription volumes. Sun Pharma is also ranked number one by prescription with 14 different doctor categories. For Q3 of FY 2026, the company launched 12 new products in India. As the leaders in diabetes and metabolic segment, we are looking forward to expand our portfolio with the launch of semaglutide upon the expiry of semaglutide patents in India. Sun's plans to be in the market on day one of a generic launch. We have already received the regulator's approval for both the indication of chronic weight management as well as treatment of type 2 diabetes under the brand name NovelTreat and SemaTrinity, respectively.
We are well positioned here with an expected launch across both indications, as well as all the strength, presenting a comprehensive solution to the physicians as well as patients. Our brands will be made available in easy-to-use format, and we have ensured sufficient supplies to meet the demand in India. I will now hand over the call to Rick for the update on the U.S.
Thank you, Kirti, and good evening. Let me share the performance highlights of our US business. Our overall US business was marginally up by 0.6% to reach $477 million for the quarter. Growth in innovative medicines was offset by lower sales in the generic business due to additional competition in certain products. The US accounted for 27.5% of consolidated sales for the quarter. For Q3, we launched three new generic products in the US. As Kirti mentioned, recently, we've also launched Enloxit in the US for the treatment of advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Our early launch efforts have been focused on education and awareness of healthcare professionals. We are also in active discussions with health systems to ensure wide access for the product. Our initial interactions have been positive.
We have completed initial stocking and had our first orders from distributors. I'd also like to give a quick word on Leqselvi. The initial response from physicians has been encouraging. Physicians are reporting early signs of hair regrowth in patients, which mirrors our clinical data, including in some patients who have previously failed other JAK inhibitors. I will now hand over the call to Alok for updates on our other businesses. Alok?
Thank you, Rick, and good evening to everybody on the call. I will provide an update on the performance highlights of our other businesses. Our formulations revenues in emerging markets were $337 million, up by 21.6% over Q3 last year. The underlying growth in constant currency terms was 13%. In emerging markets, we have seen broad-based growth in the generic and innovative medicine business. Emerging markets accounted for 19.4% of total consolidated revenue for Q3. Among the larger markets, Romania, South Africa, and Brazil have done well in local currency terms. Formulation revenues in Rest of the World were $296 million, up 14.5% over Q3 FY25. We have seen growth both in the generic and innovative medicine business in ROW.
The Rest of the World markets accounted for approximately 17.1% of consolidated revenue. I will now hand over to Mr. Dilip Shanghvi for updates on R&D.
Yeah. Thank you, Alok. Let me take you through our R&D initiatives and activities. We continue to invest in building a R&D pipeline for both the global generics and the innovative medicine business. Consolidated investments made towards R&D for Q3 FY2026 stand at INR 8,928 million or 5.8% of sales. Innovative R&D accounted for 30.5% of our total R&D spend, and stands at 7.2% of global innovative medicine sales for the quarter. During the quarter, we filed sBLA for Ilumya with the U.S. FDA in the indication of psoriatic arthritis. FDA approved label updates on Enloxit, based on longer-term data that demonstrated improved clinical outcomes in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. We've also initiated global phase 2 trials of GL0034 in the indication of type 2 diabetes.
FDA has also updated Ilumya label recently with additional efficacy data in treatment of psoriasis of the nail.
Operator, we can open for Q&A?
Sure. 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 touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking questions. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. To ask questions, please press star and one. First question is from Rishi Parekh, from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and good evening, I guess. Thank you so much for taking my question. Now, I appreciate you're not taking questions on what's speculative out there, but for many of us that are new to Sun Pharma, I was just hoping that you could walk us through your M&A strategy and what you're hoping to target or achieve with the strategy. Are you looking at tuck-ins? Are you looking to add biosimilars? Are you looking to expand your geographic presence? And how important is North America in this strategy?
I think almost for all of those issues, we've indicated responses to analysts on this call in the past. I think US continues to be an important part of our focus, specifically for the innovative medicines. And not only US, but we have interest in selling innovative medicines globally. For emerging markets, we are looking at what you call tuck-ins or smaller acquisitions, which we can look at integrating with our existing business to gain scale in the emerging markets. And we have also consistently indicated that we want to remain disciplined about acquisition. Our focus is on finding a way to grow our business organically at a rate, so that we continue to be an attractive investment opportunity for shareholders.
We would look at an acquisition only if we think that it can help us in terms of strengthening our long-term strategic capability.
Can you also talk us through the size of the types of acquisitions you're looking at?
So I.
That you would do.
Unless and until. So I, I think we've indicated in the past that we need to be confident that whatever acquisition we make, we should be able to manage effectively without our diluting focus on our own growth. At the same point of time, I think we've also indicated that for acquisition, if it is necessary, we are comfortable raising debt.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from Tushar Manudhane from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, on the innovative medicine sales, ex of milestone payment, the growth has been bit soft compared to earlier quarters. If you could, you know, elaborate on that? That's my first question.
Yeah, I will answer your question. As we have called out in Q3 FY 20, certain one-time sales to our partner, and that has given Q3 25 high base, and that is one reason for the growth looking lower in H1. Our specialty should continue to do well. It is difficult for us to comment quarter-to-quarter. My view is always you look at the business on annualized basis, rather than looking at quarter-to-quarter basis.
Okay. And so secondly, R&D spend on the innovative portfolio is both as a percentage of total R&D, as well as absolute amount, has been reducing for past two, three quarters. If you could also explain that?
So I think it's all linked with commencing clinical trials. As we are commencing new clinical trial, including the one for GL0034, we should some increase in the R&D spend. And next quarter, we will guide our R&D next year. That will be for our expected R&D spend for next year.
Got it, sir. Just lastly, if I may, US sales, ex of Revlimid, has the portfolio grown or it has still been stable? If you could just throw some light on that.
Is the question specifically related to generics?
Yes.
Excluding lenalidomide, the generics business is slightly down in the US.
So is this to do with price erosion or lack of launches? If you could also explain that.
It's really due to specific competition for certain products.
How do you see this improving going forward?
Yeah, I think overall for the U.S., we see the innovative medicines continuing to grow, and the generic business will start to recover once we are in manufacturing compliance at a number of our sites in order to launch new products.
Got it. Very clear answer. Thanks a lot.
Thank you. The next question is from Damayanti Kerai from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, and thank you for the opportunity. My first question is on gross margin. Just want to understand it better. In your opening remarks, you mentioned, better mix led to, such strong gross margin. So if you can just explain, like, what are the key, drivers to sustain such high, gross margin? As we understand now, Revlimid benefit is over, for you. So if, some additional color to explain the very strong gross margin performance.
Thanks for your question, Damayanti. As you know, we don't specifically guide on product margins. Having said that, better mix of products, both in terms of, branded products and, our innovative medicines, has given an uptick compared to the gross margin in the previous, year.
Okay, and you think this level of margins will sustain, or how do you see margins trending ahead?
As I was just mentioning, we normally do not guide on margins. Our endeavor is to see how we sustain, and we perform to our potential.
Okay, sure. My second question is on spend on the new launches, where you indicated incremental spend of $100 million or so. So, in terms of spend, where do you, you know, how much of that is already covered and how much is yet to come? And where are the major spend happening?
Rick, maybe you can explain.
Yeah, I can address. Yeah, I'm happy to address that. So the spend is really occurring on the Leqselvi and Enloxit launches. It was fairly evenly split. We do see that spend increasing now in the latter part of the fiscal year, particularly as we've just launched Enloxit. We do expect this to be kind of part of our core expenses, though, going forward.
Okay. So, next year as well, we see, we expect elevated spend on these new launches as you build up, the market reach, et cetera?
Yeah. Next year, it'll just be part of our core operating OpEx to support these and the rest of our innovative medicines business.
Okay. With Enloxit very recent launch, but any color on how you're proceeding with your discussion with the insurance partners, et cetera, and when do you expect those deals to sign, like when you have the healthcare partners onboarded?
Is the question related to Enloxit?
Yes.
Sure. So we're having active discussions with physicians, as you would expect, given we're just a few weeks outside of launch. From a distribution perspective, the distribution network is in place. As I had shared, those agreements are in place. The product has been stocked, as well as the agreements with downstream customers. The other important discussions are with health systems. As this is an oncology product, a lot of the prescriptions will come from health systems. So we have been in active discussions with health systems since before launch. We have been in touch with the top 50 cancer centers within the U.S., and all of those discussions have been progressing positively. So for the first few weeks, very pleased with what we've seen so far.
The message is resonating in terms of the balance, that this product provides in terms of efficacy and safety. It's something that clinicians have been looking for. And again, within the health systems, the discussions from a formulary perspective have been progressing positively.
Sure. Thank you. I'll get back in the queue.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from Neha Manpuria from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question. My first question is on the India business. Given the strong performance that we have seen and the upcoming launch of Sema that you indicated, should we expect this growth rate to improve further as we look, you know, through the next few quarters, particularly as we add Sema? And just a related question on that, would we need to add any more sales force or any plans to expand the sales force, sales force in India, generally with, for Sema or otherwise, given the strong growth that we've seen?
Yes. I think, Neha, you'll appreciate that it's very difficult for us to predict what will be the future growth and how we will grow, so we will not comment on that. Coming to your question on GLP-1, yeah, we will add some few field force for the launch of the product, and that's like the way we do the business in India. Yeah.
This hasn't been done as yet, sir?
Yeah, yeah, we are preparing for the launch, as I said in my readout, so some of this thing has already been done.
All right. Okay, got it. My second question is on the R&D spend for generics. If I were to strip out the specialty number that you mentioned, that seemed to have, you know, increased quite a bit. So if you could give us some color, you know, in terms of incrementally, you know, where are we looking at spends? You know, and since historically, we have kept biosimilars outside, you know, any plans in sort of looking at biosimilars again with the change, given the change in regulation?
Yeah, I did not understand. What is the question?
If I look at the gen, you know, ex, specialty R&D spend, right? Then after stripping out the R&D, specialty R&D that you give, the generic spend seems to have increased quite a bit. So, you know, could you give us some color on where we are spending on generics specifically, and also our thoughts on, you know, biosimilars? How should we look at that opportunity for Sun Pharma, particularly given we haven't done too much in the past?
So, no, I think we are giving some split between the generic and the specialty, but beyond that, within generic, where we spend the money, is not something that we give at a granular level. We also recognize that, we're not only talking to constituents, investors, but we're also talking potentially to competitors. So generally, we avoid sharing commercially sensitive information on this call.
Understood. And on biosimilars, has your view there changed in terms of looking at that opportunity overall?
So we—I think last time also I indicated, so we are evaluating, re-looking at, because we have to look at comprehensively, including setting up manufacturing, investment, overall cost of development, and the time for the investment to produce any kind of meaningful return. So, so we are evaluating everything to take a decision.
Understood. Sorry, promise, even one last question on Enloxit. You know, how are we thinking about positioning this product versus, you know, our peers? Would it be the warehousing patients that we would look at first or the new patients that come in?
Yeah, Rick, maybe you can respond.
Yeah, I think the position of Enloxit in the market is very clear and very crisp. What it really offers is balance between efficacy and tolerability. So Enloxit works three ways: It restores adaptive immunity, which is by binding to the PD-L1. It engages the innate immune system based on its active Fc domain that activates natural killer cells, and unlike the existing products, it preserves PD-L2 signaling. And the reason that's important is that's the pathway through which immune-mediated adverse events are typically anticipated.
Mm-hmm.
So that, that's really the positioning of Enloxit in the marketplace, and as I said, that, that's been resonating with, with clinicians.
And if you think, you know, this would be more importantly getting new patients on board, or could we initially go after the patients that have used existing products and haven't worked for them?
We would mostly anticipate new patients.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from Binu Pathiparampil, from Elara Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening and good morning. The first question is sort of a follow-up from earlier questions. Just wanted to know if there is any lenalidomide contribution at all in Q3, or was it completely over in Q2?
Quite small in Q3, but there was a negligible contribution.
Got it. Second, on semaglutide, are you also planning for launches in some other emerging markets, around the time you will launch in India?
No, what I said about the launch in India only. Other markets, we are not guiding what is our launch plan.
Understood. Finally, a question on GL0034. I believe it is in phase 2 in diabetes. When can we expect some sort of data with it?
No, what, what was that?
GL0034 in diabetes, phase 2. I think you prescribed?
We are publishing phase 2 data in certain scientific conferences, both for diabetes as well as for NASH over the next few months. But the current phase 2b study, which has started, that should possibly get over within maybe 12-18 months.
Okay. So any further data is 18 months? Okay, got it. Thank you.
Yeah. Yeah, thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from Girish Bakhru from OrbiMed. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question. Just, questions on U.S. again, regarding, two products. First, Leqselvi. My understanding is the product requires a genetic testing before you put the patient on. Can you talk about that? Isn't that a significant deterrent?
Yes, it is. Well, first, I think it's important to point out for all the JAK inhibitors, there's a whole battery of testing that needs to take place. So that's similar across all the products. Leqselvi is a bit unique in that we do have a specific testing for how the drug is metabolized. Now, what's interesting about that is a lot of drugs are metabolized through that system, so it's good for patients to understand that. So there's some benefits of actually knowing that as part of the testing process. But you're correct, that is one of the steps associated with starting patients on Leqselvi.
Can I ask, Richard, are there enough centers who are doing this testing? And if you can also throw who's covering the cost of the test. Is it the patient or is it the insurance company?
We're actually covering the cost of the test, so we're working with the leading providers. There are several big providers of testing within the United States, and we are working with them to provide the test, and we do so free of charge to the patient.
Understood. And just while we're on this market, I mean, Rinvoq, of course, is being talked about as a new entrant potentially soon. I mean, I was looking at the data. Data on Rinvoq is pretty solid, and its dosing is also better than Leqselvi. So how do you see that competition coming in this market? And of course, there are a whole set of new drugs also probably being targeted in alopecia.
Yeah, I don't know if I would agree with the comment about the dosing being better. I think what I would say is, you know, first of all, this remains a category where there's opportunity for more diagnosis. So the more products that are available is a good thing because it's giving patients choices, and it's going to allow the market to continue to grow. Strictly, the severe market, where it can be challenging for physicians to differentiate those patients. So having additional competition is a good thing because it will help with that education. The other thing we know, and we're seeing with Leqselvi as well, is just because a patient tries more, that doesn't mean they're not going to respond to others. In fact, that's exactly what we're hearing from clinicians.
We're having patients that are starting Leqselvi that have actually failed the two other approved JAK inhibitors and actually are now responding on Leqselvi.
Understood. And second question was on Enloxit. I heard your comment earlier that this primary market is basically new patients. So, I mean, you are not really targeting patients who have failed Keytruda or Libtayo. Is that correct?
So there could be patients that are having trouble tolerating Keytruda and Libtayo that could move to Enloxit. But in general, our assumption has been, and our strategy has been more focused on new patients.
Wouldn't that market be smaller, like, given the advanced carcinoma patients would be difficult to find?
Yes. I mean, there are. It's smaller than the overall population, but there's a meaningful population of patients that start immunotherapy, where they need to go on one of these therapies.
Understood. And just lastly, any thoughts on new indications that you're pursuing for Leqselvi or on Enloxit right now, or is it too early?
We are in active discussions about LCM for both products.
Understood. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next question is from Vishal Manchanda from Systematix. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, and thanks for the opportunity. A question on your pending ANDAs and NDAs. So you have 116 ANDAs pending and about 14 NDAs pending approval. Would you be able to share how many of these are from sites that are impacted by OAI?
We don't specifically disclose which ANDAs are filed from which site.
In the sense, like, just a percentage of the pending ANDAs or NDAs that would be filed from the affected sites.
Like I said, we don't disclose that.
Right. Okay. And if you could share some nature on, nature of the NDA filings that are pending approval, in the sense, whether these are ready-to-use injectables or sprinkle powders that you have been kind of trying to build over time. So majority of these would be kind of ready-to-use injectables and dysphagia-related products?
No, we haven't given details about our NDA filings in terms of the nature. Yeah.
Okay. Just one final one. Do you expect to see further decline in US generic sales in Q4?
I think-
I don't believe we provide forward-looking guidance.
I mean, it's included in our overall guidance.
Right. Right. And if you could just share, between Enloxit and Leqselvi, which one would become, w hich one would scale up faster over the next two years? Any sense there?
We typically don't provide product-specific guidance.
Thanks. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from Kunal Dhamesha from Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you for taking my question. The first one is on the CMS's proposal on the Most Favored Nation pricing, the two models that they have put out. Can you share some color, what is the internal assessment? I believe right now it's open for the commentary, but what's your internal assessment of that?
Sure, happy to do so. What I think, as you know, there are three models. There's a voluntary model that exists today, which is called the Generous Model, which is directly related to Medicaid within the U.S. There's, a nd then the other two are proposed, so they are very much in the notice and comment phase. We expect that notice and comment phase to end within this next month. So it's pretty speculative at this point to know, A, whether they will stay intact as they are or how they will change. As you would expect, we are working on all possible alternatives to mitigate any impact.
Can you share how we can make the broader aspect as to how we can mitigate, you know, what are the strategies we can employ there?
Yeah, I think there are a variety of ways-
Take your-
Go ahead.
I think—no, I, I think these are commercially sensitive information. It's difficult for us to share this information on a public call. If you see, none of the pharma companies have given any details about any agreement that they have signed with the government, excepting which products are covered. So I think you need to understand that there are things that we can share, and there are things that we will not be able to share.
Sure, sir. Second one on the front, you know, Cosibeli mab, we, you know, just suggested that we might be in active discussion for new indication. So would this indication be within the therapy areas that we are focusing, or we are willing to go beyond our key therapy areas at this moment, given the data, especially on the immune-mediated adverse events, is quite strong compared to the competitor?
I think once we decide-
I think we'll go ahead, Jaya.
No, I think once we decide, we will share both the information that we can share. We are. As we've said, we are evaluating. So while we evaluate, there are advantages of staying within the therapy area that we are present in. There are advantages of looking at other areas that we are not present in. So we have to do a commercial risk-benefit and time to market analysis.
Sure. Thank you, and all the best.
Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question is from Gautam from Leo Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. Good evening. I wanted to know regarding GLP-1, do you have a fill-and-finish capacity? If it's our own capacity or through partnerships capacity?
No, I think I talked about launch in India, but we will not comment specifically on capacity, yeah, and whether it's in-house or it's outsourced from a third party, yeah.
All right. You guys won't, don't have any timelines or any intention outside India market, any emerging markets, or only India market will be guided as of now?
No. So as I said earlier, my comment was only on India market. Outside India market, we are not going to disclose what's our plan here.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question is from Tushar Manudhane from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the follow-up. Just on continuing on innovative sales, so while you highlighted high base in the same quarter last year, is there any sort of milestone as well, any certain sort of one-off which would sort of come from a higher base in this quarter as well?
No.
No, there was no one-off in this quarter, apart from milestone.
Tushar.
Sure. Got it, sir. And, secondly, more on the overall performance of FY 2023 to 2025, there has been, almost, you know, 13%-14% CAGR in EBITDA as well as earnings, even if I adjust for the milestones income. However, FY 2026, 9 months has been a bit of, you know, sort of subdued. So if you could just throw some light, while this 9 months, the R&D spend also has been relatively lesser, given the clinical programs at various stages. So how do we see, w hile not, you know, taking a numerical guidance from your side, but, but directionally, if you could, you know, help us understand?
I think our margins during this year and quarter has also been good, factoring in the two new launches and the related expenditure that we have decided on. So I think on a normal, when you look at the on a normal ongoing basis, the margins are at a comparable basis.
Ma'am, I was referring for the growth in EBITDA as well as PAT, while higher spend on innovative medicine to some extent got offset with lower R&D spend compared to earlier years. Right?
Yeah. So that is at the EBITDA level.
So-
PAT, we have indicated, in the past as well. Our ETR has moved up from around 13%-15% to currently about 25%, and that is the reason why you would see that the PAT improvement may not be commensurate with the margin improvement.
Okay. So subsequently, is 25% effective tax rate the number to assume for the 2027, 2028?
I think it would be sort of in the range, we guess.
Got it, ma'am. All right. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from Shashank Krishnakumar from Emkay Global Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for taking my question. My first one was on the launch of an auto-injector, Ilumya in Canada. So wanted to get your thoughts that would possibly move beyond the usual physician administered setting. So, do we also have plans to do this in the U.S.? Just want to understand that. And, just a related question, for psoriatic arthritis, is it reasonable to expect a launch towards the FY 2027?
Sure.
Yeah, maybe I can provide you. Oh, go ahead.
Yeah, no, Rick, please respond.
Yeah, I was going to say, so we've launched a pen for Ilumya in Canada, and as another market, the product is also administered there. It's a different situation within the US. We're currently pleased with the SC administration model, and that's our current intention. As it relates to psoriatic arthritis, we would expect typical FDA review times, as we shared. We did submit the application this past quarter.
Got it. Thanks, that's helpful. Just a second question on India. So do we also plan to launch sema tablets post-March? Just wanted to check that.
Right now, as I said earlier, we have approval for semaglutide injection. Yeah. We won't be able to comment on the semaglutide tablet at this moment.
Sure, sir. Thank you. That's it from my side.
Thank you. The next question is from Vishal Manchanda from Systematix. Please go ahead.
Thanks again. On the Philogen drug, Fibromun, can you guide if there is a possibility for the drug to get an accelerated approval?
Where?
In the US.
I don't think it's here.
Which indication?
Soft tissue sarcoma.
My understanding is that they don't have a.
Priority review.
Priority review classification, so.
Mm-hmm.
It's not-
So, like beyond that-
I can find out. I'm res-- if I respond, I'll respond without having adequate information. So maybe share the specific question with Abhishek, and we will get back to you with specific information. Because this is a product that Philogen is responsible for development as well as for filing.
Got it, sir. Yeah, I'll do that. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from Vivek Agarwal from Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. The question again is related to your M&A strategy. Just want to understand, in case if you find a suitable M&A target, so what kind of the debt you are comfortable with? So are you able to leverage the balance sheet, let's say, 3x of EBITDA? Thank you.
No, I think I said that we are comfortable with raising debt. Now, it all depends on the target's cash flow profile, our confidence that we can repay. Why, why we want to go into an area where we have no specific information, I have to really make worse.
Yeah, thanks. No problem at all. Just one more question on this global model, Rick. Although you are not commenting on your strategy, but just if I look at the model itself, is there any possibility or how you think about the possibility of this, let's say, getting implemented? Is it practical or can it get delayed or may not be implemented at all? How do you think about this?
I think that's pretty speculative. I think we need to wait until the notice and comment period is, is over and then, then react. It's hard to tell at this stage.
Understood. And are you also working with any kind of deal with the Trump administration?
Can you repeat the question?
Are you also working with any kind of deal with Trump Administration, like some of the other big pharma companies have entered with?
We're regularly in conversations with the U.S. government on any number of topics.
Perfect. Thanks. That's all my side.
Thank you. Next question is from Forum Parekh from Bank of Baroda. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Our emerging markets growth is quite buoyant in this quarter. So I hear that it was led by both generics as well as innovative products. But can we elaborate more on this and give us some direction, like, going forward, how should we look at this region?
All our major geographies in Emerging Markets are doing well in local currency terms, and our constant currency growth for the Emerging Markets business is 13%. While there was a currency tailwind, both generics and innovative businesses have done well, and we don't guide on revenue growth for specific businesses.
Okay. My second question is little open-ended, and it's on the India business, GLP opportunity. So given that the market is going to be very crowded, so what are our thoughts? I mean, how excited are we to be in this competitive market? So any thoughts there?
No, sure. No, no, we are very excited to launch the product on the patent expiry. Yeah, and I think the product will. When the generic product for Sema is launched, it will, it will also improve the access, and the market will expand. Exactly in terms of number of patients or value, we cannot comment on it at this moment, but we are all very excited to launch a semaglutide equivalent generics in India on patent expiry.
Sure. And are we to, can we talk or give some direction on the pricing side? I mean, do we want to be very competitive, or how are we going to be on the pricing side? Any color there?
Sure. Pricing, we cannot comment, but I already told you, like, when the generic comes, it improves the access. Yeah.
Sure. No problem. Thanks. Thanks for answering my question.
Thank you. The next question is from Abdul Kader Puranwala, from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. First question is with the generic semaglutide. I believe, we have filed the product in Canada through Taro. Just wanted to understand, you know, what's the status there, and have you heard anything back from the regulator for the filing?
No, I think I clarified this the second, third or fourth time. It like, right now in this call, we are discussing semaglutide only for India and will be next year.
Operator, we can close the call?
Sure. Yes, sir. That was the last question in queue. I would now like to hand the conference back to Dr. Abhishek Sharma for closing comments.
Yeah, thanks, everyone, especially for joining us on this Saturday. If any of your questions have remained unanswered, please reach out to me, or the investor relations team, and we'll be happy to help you. Thank you and have a good evening.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. On behalf of Sun Pharma, that concludes the conference. Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. You may now disconnect your lines.