Panacea Biotec Q3 net profit at Rs 83 cr

Panacea Biotec today posted a net profit of Rs 82.79 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013.
The company, which had posted a net loss of Rs 62.20 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, received an order from UNICEF to supply its pentavalent vaccine.
Net sales of the company declined to Rs 105.80 crore during the third quarter, compared to Rs 166.28 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, Panacea Biotec said in a statement.
In a separate statement, the company said it has received an order form UNICEF to supply its pentavalent vaccine 'Easyfive TT', for 2014-16 period.

"This award to Panacea Biotec is the outcome of the recent relisting of the company's pentavalent vaccine by World Health Organisation (WHO) on October 2, 2013, post successful completion of the audit of the company's Lalru and Baddi facilities," the company said.
Commenting on the development, Panacea Biotec Joint Managing Director Rajesh Jain said: "This award is a great opportunity for Panacea Biotec and would enable the company to be once again on growth trajectory."

In August 2011, WHO had delisted three of the company's vaccines -- diptheria-pertussis-tetanus based combination vaccines Easyfive, Ecovac4 and EnivacHB -- from pre-qualified list of vaccines due to quality concerns.

'Pre-qualification' is a process under which drug companies have to fulfil certain WHO-stipulated conditions to become eligible to supply vaccines to UN procurement agencies globally.
Panacea Biotec shares today closed at Rs 95.50 a piece on the BSE, down 1.75 per cent from its previous close.