Dr Reddy’s has launched eight brands in India: Saumen Chakraborty

Dr Reddy's Laboratories has introduced eight new brands in the Indian market in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, says Saumen Chakraborty, chief financial officer. During a chat with Dimpy Kalara, Chakraborty said, "The issues we faced on the delivery end led to a weakness in the API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) segment of the company."

Dr Reddy's has posted good quarterly numbers and has strengthened its presence in Europe and India. What is the reason for this success?

Eight new brands were introduced in India in this quarter. Our company has shifted its focus towards the Indian market in the last few years. The results are visible and have helped in improving our rank. We are also trying to improve our performance in each division. Besides, the introduction of a few new products in Europe has resulted in some improvement there. But the company's base is very low in Europe and such growth will not have any major impact. However, we will be focused on the growth in Europe as well.

Certain weakness has been observed in the API segment. How are you reading it and what can be the cause of the decline in demand?

The demand has not reduced, and our order books are healthy. We faced an issue of delivery of our products as we had certain quality problems at a few of our plants. The issues have been resolved, but we were not able to deliver it to the customers, and that is why we suffered some losses in the external API business.

How many ANDAs (abbreviated new drug approvals) are available? How many renewals have been made?

The ANDAs stands at 104 while the NDA stands at three, which totals to 107, pending approvals in the US, and there are several works in progress for the registration in other countries.

Update us on the sales of cancer drug Suboxone in the June quarter?

The competition hasn't had any major impact on Suboxone, and its pricing is good yet. But the brand sale has not generated the amount that it should have, however, it will generate more in the time to come and benefit us.

What are your strategies for the future and where will the company focus on?

We will focus more on R&D of proprietary products and that is why the commercial part of the business has been divested with the existing brand. In the proprietary products, we will continue focusing on the development of the existing molecules and R&D on new molecules. Apart from this, we have had a focus on emerging markets, and our oncology products and hospital tender business are improving in other countries as well.

Update us on the US Food and Drug Administration notices to your plant in Srikakulam?

We expect that the US FDA will re-audit the Srikakulam plant and we are waiting for it. The plant should be audited in the next few months.

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