Dr Reddy's Lab pushes the pedal to touch 1.5 billion patients by FY30

Hyderabad-based pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) is targeting to reach 1.5 billion patients by the financial year 2029-30 (FY30) from the current 704 million patients. This will be achieved by strengthening its over-the-counter (OTC) focus in India and exploring new ventures like vaccines and novel molecules (through licensing partnerships) over the next five years, according to DRL’s annual report for FY24.

In a joint message to DRL shareholders, K Satish Reddy, chairman of DRL, and GV Prasad, co-chairman and managing director, DRL, highlighted the importance of anticipating healthcare trends of the future as demographics, disease patterns, and business models evolve.

“We have started investing in areas that we think could be future growth drivers—novel molecules (NCEs, NBEs, and CAR-T), digital therapeutics (wearables, apps), and consumer healthcare (nutrition and OTC wellness),” they stated in their message.

They added that DRL’s recent joint venture with Nestlé India to bring a global range of nutritional health solutions, as well as vitamins, minerals, herbals, and supplements of Nestlé Health Science (NHSc) to India, would strengthen the company’s nutrition and OTC business in India.

“These are relatively new and long-gestation areas requiring companies to think and do things differently through strong partnerships, investment in newer capabilities, and an appetite for risk,” the message stated.

The leadership added that the company will work to ensure that it continues to do well in its core businesses of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), generics, branded generics, biosimilars, and OTC.

“Our regulatory work in India on the cancer drug Toripalimab, for which we partnered with Junshi Biosciences, has moved forward. We have taken early steps in the area of digital therapeutics with the launch of the drug-free migraine management device Nerivio, and a digital integrated care plan to manage Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS),” DRL said in its annual report.

The company also announced that it will work together with the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to launch the biosimilar rituximab in the US.

“Our dossier for the proposed rituximab biosimilar candidate received a Complete Response Letter from the USFDA. We will continue to work closely with the USFDA to address and resolve all concerns within stipulated timelines in order to make this biosimilar rituximab available to patients in the US as soon as possible,” the top leadership said.

DRL is also looking to improve its market share in emerging markets in therapy areas such as oncology and biosimilars through growth in existing products as well as new product launches, supported by sales and marketing excellence.

“Our medium-term strategy for the segment is to build a healthy portfolio pipeline, including oncology products, coupled with the expansion of biosimilars. We are also focused on growing ‘Mega Brands’ both in prescription and OTC segments, further scaling up in our major markets such as Russia, China, Brazil, and South Africa, and adding new geographies by leveraging DRL’s in-house global portfolio of generics and biosimilars and seeking in-licensing opportunities,” the company added.

DRL had posted a strong financial performance in FY24, reporting a 14 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) revenue growth with a reported Ebitda margin for the year at 29.7 per cent and return on capital employed (ROCE) of over 35 per cent, according to figures shared in the company’s annual report.