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| Edited By: KV Ramana |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 18, 2018, 03:39 AM IST
Unperturbed by the lack of progress in its new chemical entity (NCE) Balaglitazone, pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) is scouting for partners to take its yet another NCE, an anti-cholesterol molecule, forward.
The company has been working on a cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) molecule for tapping the potential in the anti-cholesterol drug market. The molecule has completed Phase I trials and the results are found to be favourable enough to take the trials forward.
“We will have a partner to take it forward. Right now, the CETP inhibitor is into Phase II and it would take some more time before we join hands with a partner,” GV Pasad, DRL’s CEO, said.
In fact, K Anji Reddy, DRL’s founder and chairman, made a special mention of the NCE in his speech at the company’s 27th annual general meeting on Thursday. “The foremost in the NCE programme is the CETP inhibitor, which has recently moved into Phase II. The volunteer recruitment for the trials is going on and the actual trials will commence shortly,” Reddy said.
Another senior company official said that the partner would be roped in after completion of Phase II trials, expected to be about one year from now. “It (the CETP inhibitor) is going to be a great asset if we can pull it off. Like any NCE, this too has its own risk profile and we cannot talk about its successful launch till it actually comes out of every step of trials,” he said.
The CETP shuttles the cholesterol throughout the body, thus controlling lipoprotein in the body. The preparation for Phase II implies that the company has already found the drug to be safe though the efficacy and other issues will have to be tested in the next phases.
Scientists have a mixed opinion about the efficacy of CETP in checking the incidence of heart attacks and another drug major Pfizer had earlier stopped the development of the CETP inhibitor drug citing safety concerns. Roche and Merck are said to be at an advanced stage of developing the CETP inhibitor.
Dr Reddy’s so far has been working and investing on its NCE pipeline with two candidates. One of the two — Balaglitazone —was aimed at anti-diabetes segment. After a prolonged phase of development spread over six to seven years, the molecule had hit a dead-end. Meanwhile, Anji Reddy informed the shareholders at the AGM that the company would aim at achieving $1 billion in sales from branded generics. “One of our immediate goals is to make the company’s branded generics arm a billion dollar business in itself. The key drivers of this will be India and Russia, two large emerging markets where we have a strong presence,” Reddy said.
On the opportunities that are expected to open up with several drugs going off-patent, G V Prasad said that the company is positioned well to tap the market. “The (product) pipeline today covers about 63% of patent expiries.”
Several shareholders demanded stock split at the AGM, citing liquidity issue following the rise in the stock price. The company officials said they would look into the matter.
