Dr Reddy's plans to ramp up R&D spend

Indian pharmaceutical major Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited (DRL) aims to increase the R&D spend on its three major research programmes, including the reverse cholesterol transport (RCT), in a bid to come out with pathbreaking molecules in the next 7-10 years.

"I have asked the company CEO, GV Prasad, to provide $100 million more for drug research. It is up to him to decide," K Anji Reddy, chairman, DRL, said, adding, "But we intend to scale it up gradually." Reddy wants the company to invest $100 mn in drug discovery every year apart from the amount earmarked for the purpose.

The company's half-yearly expenditure on drug research ending September 2007 stood at $44 million and an equal amount is expected to be spent in the next half year.

Reddy said the increase in expenditure on drug research was not an issue when revenues and profits were growing at a faster pace. He was speaking on the theme, 'innovation and research as the growth engine', at the TiE-ISB Connect-2007 here recently.

The chairman's inclination to raise more resources for drug research comes at a time when the company has started seeing the early signs of success at all the three tracks of drug research currently under way at its four laboratories, including the one at Atlanta in the US.

In the RCT area, PF12ER, a molecule which is expected to reduce the risk of heart diseases, is entering phase one trials in the next couple of months, according to Reddy. The company has already applied for patent for the target of the drug-gata 1 activation through its Atlanta laboratory.

In another breakthrough, the DRS 15725, an alternative to the expensive biologic drug Ambro, which is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, was found to be as effective as the latter in just 50 mg dosage by a European company in its animal trials recently. "While the Ambro is sold at $50,000 for one shot, this smaller molecule can be sold at $1.5 to $2.5 per tablet," he said.

He also claimed the front runner status for his company in the AMPK activation research area, where the molecule that causes overexpression of the enzyme concerned is expected to provide some effective anti-ageing and anti-diabetic solutions.

Besides, the company hopes to launch Balaglitazone, a drug used in diabetes management, in 2010-11. Reddy hopes it to be the country's first drug molecule to enter the market. It is considered to be a better drug compared with the two similar compounds, which command $2 billion business at present. Balaglitazone is being co-developed with Danish company Rheosciences, which has offered close to $60 million to Dr Reddy's for exclusive rights over the drug in the US and China markets.

The company is planning to launch the modified version of Red Heart Pill, used in the treatment of heart ailments in India in the next one year. Though the drug carries a huge business potential, the company does not want to apply for a patent. "We want it to be a WHO drug and do not intend for a patent," he said.

"Affordable medicines to the people has always been our priority, In fact, by introducing drugs at affordable prices, I forced the Indian industry not to resort to profiteering," Reddy pointed out.