USFDA flags Ciplas Goa facility

Pharma major Cipla reported to the exchanges that United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) have issued a warning letter in accordance with the inspection held at the company’s manufacturing facility in Goa.

The inspection at the facility took place from September 16 to 27, 2019 post which, the letter has been issued. A warning letter is usually considered to be a response with queries, here to the actions taken by Cipla for the previously received OAI for Goa facility. Essentially, the observations were given related to cleaning processes in some of the company’s equipment while, others were related to sterile practices. The management of the company said that it has been working with experts inside the company and also has consultants advising them. Cipla also stated that it will work closely with USFDA to understand the issues and to resolve them.

For Q3FY20, Cipla reported a YoY growth of nine per cent in revenue from operations to be Rs 4,371 crore. EBITDA also expanded by five per cent to Rs 758 crore in Q3FY20 from Rs 720 crore in Q3FY19. Net profit gained for Q3FY20 stood at Rs 351 crore, clocking a growth of six per cent YoY. Cipla is scheduled to hold a meeting of its board of directors on Thursday, March 12, 2020, inter-alia to consider and approve the payment of interim dividend for FY19-20.

On Wednesday, during the early morning trading session, the stock of Cipla was trading at Rs 415.80, down by 2.25 per cent or Rs 9.55 per share. The 52-week high is Rs 585.50 and 52-week low is Rs 389.55 on BSE.