Dr Reddy’s aligns with UK’s SkyePharma

To conduct feasibility study of a product using the UK firm’s drug delivery system

HYDERABAD: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has announced it will undertake a feasibility study on a product, utilising two of UK-based SkyePharma’s proprietary drug delivery systems. Dr Reddy’s will fund the feasibility study which will be completed by the middle of 2008 and also pay a small upfront fee to SkyePharma for extending the technologies.

If the study is successful, full development activities will begin later this year, Dr Reddy’s said. However, the two companies have not specified which therapeutic area the research targets, or how much SkyePharma will receive as payments. SkyePharma is known for its novel drug delivery technologies particularly through inhalation, timed oral drug release, and insoluble systems.

The drug to be developed by Dr Reddy’s will be exclusively for the US market, a spokesperson said. The two companies refused to divulge the details of the therapeutic area for commercial reasons.

SkyePharma has 12 approved products that use oral, inhalation and topical delivery platforms. These have been developed in collaboration with various drug majors like Sanofi Aventis, GSK and Astra Zeneca among others.

In the pipeline are 17 products which are at various stages of development, including seven approved drugs. The company’s website says one product for pain relief and inflammation SKP-1032 was available for collaboration for a feasibility study. However, it is not clear if it is this product which will be developed by Dr Reddy’s.

p_chitti@dnaindia.net