Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Founder Anji Reddy Dies; Considered as a pioneer of reverse engineering, Dr Reddy made significant contributions in making pharmaceutical products globally competitive and also affordable to the common man

March 15, 2013, 12:50 p.m. ET

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Founder Anji Reddy Dies

By DHANYA ANN THOPPIL

BANGALORE–K. Anji Reddy, the founder and chairman of drug maker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., 500124.BY +0.29% died Friday in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. Mr. Reddy was ailing for some time, the company said in a statement, but didn’t give details. Mr. Reddy founded Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories in 1984. The Hyderabad-based company, which is listed in India and on the New York Stock Exchange, is now one of India’s largest drug makers.

Founder chairman of Dr Reddy Laboratories Anji Reddy dead

Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: March 15, 2013 21:20 IST

Hyderabad: Kallam Anji Reddy, the founder chairman of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, died today at a hospital in Hyderabad following brief illness. He was 73. He is survived by wife Samrajyam, daughter Anuradha and son K Satish Reddy, who is managing director and COO of the pharma giant. One of the most well-known faces of Indian pharma industry, Dr Reddy was suffering from lung disorder for last few months and was admitted to a private hospital 10 days ago. The technocrat-turned-entrepreneur, who started Reddy’s Laboratories with a meagre outlay of Rs. 25 lakh in early 1980s, transformed it into $1.6 billion global entity. Considered as a pioneer of reverse engineering, Dr Reddy made significant contributions in making pharmaceutical products globally competitive and also affordable to the common man.

Born in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district, he did graduation from Bombay University with specialization in pharmaceutical science and fine chemicals. He obtained his Ph.D in chemical engineering from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. Soon after his studies, he served in the state-owned IDPL before he founded the company in 1984. Anji Reddy, who was conferred Padma Bhushan in 2011, established Reddy’s Foundation and Naandi Foundation as part of his mission to give back to the society. He served as a member of the prime minister’s council on trade and industry, chairman of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC), and president of The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.

Dr Kallam Anji Reddy is no more

DC | 53 min 27 sec ago

Hyderabad: Kallam Anji Reddy, whose ventures turned Hyderabad into pharma capital, passed away on Friday. He was suffering from liver cancer and had been hospitalised for the past one week.

The man, hailed as the pharma czar, was ailing for some time. He had skipped the firm’s annual general body meet last year for the first time ever.

Anji Reddy was one of the pioneers of the pharma industry in the state. Inspired by a Pfizer plant in Pune in 1965, he quit his job at state-owned IDPL 11 years later to start his first company Uniloids.

Later, he founded Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in 1984 with a capital of Rs 24 lakh. The company is now worth Rs 30,000 crore.

Pharma czar dies of cancer

DC/S. Uma Maheshwar

Pharma czar Kallam Anji Reddy, who founded Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, passed away on Friday evening. Suffering from cancer, he had been hospitalised here for the past one week. He was 72, and is survived by wife Samrajyam, daughter Anuradha (wife of DRL vice-chairman G.V. Prasad) and son K. Satish Reddy, the company COO.

The man who made Hyderabad the pharmaceutical capital of India was born as the son of a turmeric farmer in Tadepalli near Guntur. Anji Reddy graduated from Bombay University in B.Sc. (Tech) with specialisation in pharmaceutical science and fine chemicals, and later obtained his Ph.D in chemical engineering from National Chemical Laboratory in Pune.

The foundation of the Rs 30,000-crore Dr Reddy’s Laboratories was laid in 1965, when Dr Reddy was pursuing his PhD in Pune: “I saw a Pfizer plant and decided to build one of my own,” he told Deccan Chroniclein an interview in 2010.

People visit Dr Reddy’s founder Anji Reddy’s residence to pay their last respects – DC

Soon after his studies, he worked at the state-owned IDPL here. Prior to founding Dr Reddy’s, Anji Reddy established two pharma companies — Uniloids (1976) and Standards Organics (1980). Several people who worked for his companies,  in due course, started their own drug companies, making Hyderabad the pharma industry capital.

An entrepreneur at heart, Anji Reddy had struggled his way up. “When I started a Uniloids in 1976, I used to be its salesman, production manager and everything,” he had said.

Dr Reddy’s Labs, set up here in 1984 with an initial capital of Rs 25 lakh, is currently the second largest Indian pharmaceutical company, with a market capitalisation of over Rs 30,000 crore.

To begin with, Dr Reddy’s Labs was involved only in API manufacturing. Later on, he expand it to other segments including drug discovery. His passion for research saw Dr Reddy’s Labs taking up research for new drugs since 1993. It was the first pharmaceutical company in the country to initiate basic drug discovery research.

Anji Reddy also spearheaded and founded the Neo-natal Intensive Care and Emergencies called ‘NICE Foundation,’ the only institute for new-borns in Asia. In 1998, Anji Reddy set up Naandi Foundation for providing safe drinking water in rural areas.

Who will be the successor at Dr Reddy’s

After the demise of Anji Reddy, India’s second largest pharma company will have to deal with the tricky issue of succession, which promoters had been  avoiding to address. While the choice would be between Anji Reddy’s son Satish Reddy and his son-in-law G.V. Prasad, the DRL founder had said that the company would be run by professionals.

In tune with his statement, both Satish and Prasad have stopped addressing the media on quarterly financial results, leaving the task to professionals. The promoter family hold 25.56 per cent stake in Dr Reddy’s through a holding company.

Pharma czar in his last interview to DC

“I had seen a Pfizer’s pilot plant in 1965 and decided that, ‘I’ll build a Pfizer.’ If not Pfizer, I have built Dr Reddy’s, which is no less respectable.”

“My father used to administer herbal medicine  for free. But I can’t give drugs for free. So the next best thing is to give it at as low a price as possible.”

“If my drug Ragaglitazar had been successful, we would have been getting royalties of thousands of crore rupees every year.”