Within a year, Reddy's became the first Indian company to export the active ingredients for pharmaceuticals to Europe. In 1987, Reddy's started to transform itself from a supplier of pharmaceutical ingredients to other manufacturers into a manufacturer of pharmaceutical products. In 1999, Dr. Reddy's joined the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance as a founding member in an effort to promote the development of generic drugs in India.[4][5]
International expansion
The company's first international move took it to Russia in 1992. There, Dr. Reddy's formed a joint venture with the country's biggest pharmaceuticals producer, Biomed. They pulled out in 1995 amid accusations of scandal, involving "a significant material loss due to the activities of Moscow's branch of Reddy's Labs with the help of Biomed's chief executive".[6] Reddy's sold the joint venture to the Kremlin-friendly Sistema group. In 1993, Reddy's entered into a joint venture in the Middle East and created two formulation units there and in Russia. Reddy's exported bulk drugs to these formulation units, which then converted them into finished products. In 1994, Reddy's started targeting the US generic market by building state of art manufacturing facility.
New drug discovery
Reddy's path into new drug discovery involved targeting speciality generics products in western markets to create a foundation for drug discovery. Development of speciality generics was an important step for the company's growing interest in the development of new chemical entities. The elements involved in creating a speciality generic, such as innovation in the laboratory, developing the compound, and sending the sales team to the market, are also stages in the development of a new speciality drug. Starting with speciality generics allowed the company to gain experience with those steps before moving on to creating brand-new drugs.
Reddy's invested heavily in establishing R&D labs and is the only Indian company to have significant R&D being undertaken overseas. Dr. Reddy's Research Foundation was established in 1992 and in order to do research in the area of new drug discovery. At first, the foundation's drug research strategy revolved around searching for analogues. Focus has since changed to innovative R&D, hiring new scientists, especially Indian students studying abroad on doctoral and post-doctoral courses. In 2000, the Foundation set up an American laboratory in Atlanta, dedicated to discovery and design of novel therapeutics. The laboratory is called Reddy US Therapeutics Inc (RUSTI) and its main aim is the discovery of next-generation drugs using genomics and proteomics. Reddy's research thrust focused on large niche areas in western markets – anti-cancer, anti-diabetes, cardiovascular and anti-infection drugs.
Reddy's international marketing successes were built on a strong manufacturing base which itself was a result of inorganic growth through acquisition of international and national facilities. Reddy's merged Cheminor Drug Limited (CDL) with the primary aim of supplying active pharmaceutical ingredients to the technically demanding markets of North America and Europe.
Expansion and acquisition
By 1997, Reddy's made the transition from being an API and bulk drug supplier to regulated markets like the US and the UK, and a branded formulations supplier in unregulated markets like India and Russia, into producing generics, by filing an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) in the USA. The same year, Reddy's out-licensed a molecule for clinical trials to Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical company.
It strengthened its Indian manufacturing operations by acquiring American Remedies Ltd. in 1999. This acquisition made Reddy's the third largest pharmaceutical company in India, after Ranbaxy and Glaxo (I) Ltd., with a full spectrum of pharmaceutical products, which included bulk drugs, intermediates, finished dosages, chemical synthesis, diagnostics and biotechnology.
Reddy's also started exploiting Para 4 filing as a strategy in bringing new drugs to the market at a faster pace. In 1999 it submitted a Para 4 application for omeprazole, the drug that had been the cornerstone of its success in India. In December 2000, Reddy's had undertaken its first commercial launch of a generic product in the US, and its first product with market exclusivity was launched there in August 2001. The same year, it also became the first non-Japanese pharmaceutical company from the Asia-Pacific region to obtain a New York Stock Exchange listing.
In 2001 Reddy's became the first Indian company to launch the generic drug, fluoxetine (a generic version of Eli Lilly and Company’s Prozac
American IPO and expansion into Europe
In 2001, Reddy's completed its US initial public offering of $132.8 million, secured by American Depositary Receipts. At that time the company also became listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Funds raised from the initial public offering helped Reddy's move into international production and take over technology-based companies.
In 2003, Reddy's also invested $5.25 million (USD) in equity capital into Bio Sciences Ltd.
Auriegene Discovery Technologies, a contract research company, was established as a fully owned subsidiary of Reddy's in 2002. Auriegene's objective was to gain experience in drug discovery through contract research for other pharmaceutical companies. Reddy's entered into a venture investment agreement with ICICI Bank, an established Indian banking company. Under the terms of the agreement, ICICI Venture agreed to fund the development, registration and legal costs related to the commercialisation of ANDAs on a pre-determined basis. Upon commercialisation of these products, Dr. Reddy's pays ICICI Venture royalty on net sales for a period of 5 years.
Global expansion
The company elected to expand globally, and acquired other entities. In March 2002, Dr. Reddy's acquired BMS Laboratories, Beverley, and its wholly owned subsidiary Meridian Healthcare, for €14.81 million. These companies deal in oral solids, liquids and packaging, with manufacturing facilities in London and Beverley in the UK. Recently, Dr. Reddy's entered into an R&D and commercialisation agreement with Argenta Discovery Ltd., a private drug development company based in the UK, for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Dr. Reddy's entered into a 10-year agreement with Rheoscience A/S of Denmark for the joint development and commercialisation of Balaglitazone (DRF-2593), a molecule for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. Rheoscience holds this product's marketing rights for the European Union and China, while the rights for the US and the rest of the world will be held by Dr. Reddy's. Dr. Reddy's conducted clinical trials of its cardiovascular drug RUS 3108 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2005. The trials were conducted to study the safety and the pharmacokinetic profiles of the drug, which is intended for the treatment of atherosclerosis, a major cause of cardiovascular disorders.
Dr. Reddy's entered into a marketing agreement with Eurodrug Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company based in Netherlands, for improving its product portfolio for respiratory diseases. It introduced a second-generation xanthine bronchodilator, doxofylline, which is used for the treatment of asthma and COPD patients.
In 2004, Reddy's acquired Trigenesis Therapeutics Inc; a US-based private dermatology company. This acquisition gave Reddy's access to proprietary products and technologies in the
