Nandini Piramal warns prolonged West Asia war may raise input costs

The ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia are “manageable” as of now, but if the US-Israel war against Iran prolongs, it could exert pressure, especially on petrochemical-linked inputs, said Nandini Piramal, chairperson, Piramal Pharma.

“At the moment, I would say it’s manageable,” she told ET in an interview. “But if it continues for much longer, that would mean increased costs of anything that is petrochemical-derived, including natural gas, diesel or solvents.”



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Piramal Pharma is tracking the fluid situation closely, with mitigation centred on product-level sourcing diversification and leveraging its global manufacturing footprint, alongside increased interest in onshoring, particularly to the US and UK facilities, she said.

“We are keeping a close eye on things and looking at how we can mitigate it. It’s on a product-by-product basis,” Piramal said. “Each product you have to figure out where else you can diversify supplies. I think our geographic disbursement does help us mitigate some of the risks because there are people who are more seriously considering onshoring to the US and the UK.”

On Tuesday, Piramal Pharma had announced its results for the quarter to March and full financial year, reporting a 3% decline in revenue for 2025-26, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 28% amid external headwinds and weak biotech funding. The Mumbai-based company’s contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) business also reported a 10% decline in revenue for the fiscal.

However, Piramal said that momentum improved in the second half, aided by a pickup in US biotech funding and deal activity.

“Overall, with biotech funding coming back that should translate into higher CDMO orders, because the biotechs are the ones that are most likely to outsource and it shows confidence in the sector,” she said.

Overseas sites are seeing increasing demand from shifting customer geographical preferences and strong growth in differentiated areas such as antibody-drug conjugates and highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients, on-shore injectables and drug product capabilities.

For 2026-27, the company guided for early- to mid-teens revenue growth with stronger EBITDA, driven by operating leverage, scaling of overseas sites and a recovery in CDMO order inflows.

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In the complex hospital generics business, Piramal Pharma recently completed the Kenalog acquisition alongside ramp-up of inhalation anaesthesia sales in markets excluding the US are expected to be key growth drivers.

“Our consumer healthcare business is also well positioned to sustain its growth momentum with margin improvement, driven by power brands and rapid growth in e-commerce,” Piramal said.